Adolph
A name of Germanic origin meaning "noble wolf".
Name Census estimates that about 4,224 living Americans carry the first name Adolph. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Adolph today is around 67 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Adolph births was 1917 (681 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Adolph. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Adolph is about 67 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Adolphs were born before 1969.
People living today
4.2K
~ 1 in 81,144 Americans
Peak year
1917
681 babies that year
Average age
67
years old
2023 SSA rank
#3,660
Tracked since 1880
Census
Adolph in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,968 people with the first name Adolph, which placed it at #4,626 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#4,626
National first-name rank
People counted
4.0K
3,968 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
41.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Adolph
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Adolph is White at 41.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (30.2%) and Black (23.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Adolph described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Adolph at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White41.8% · 1,660
- Hispanic or Latino30.2% · 1,198
- Black or African American23.8% · 946
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 68
- Two or more races1.6% · 62
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 34
Gender
Gender distribution for Adolph
Out of the 18,765 babies given the name Adolph since 1880, 99.9% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Adolph as a male name
- Ranked #12,270 in 2023
- 5 male births in 2023
- Peak: 1917 (673 births)
Adolph as a female name
- Ranked #3,660 in 1930
- 7 female births in 1930
- Peak: 1917 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Adolph appears almost entirely male. Of the 3,971 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Adolph: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Adolph from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 4,531 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Adolph by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Adolph during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Adolphs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 37 states and territories. Texas, New York, Illinois recorded the most babies named Adolph, while Washington, Arizona, New Mexico recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 335 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Adolph
The name Adolph has its origins in the Germanic language, derived from the Old High German "Athalwolf" or "Adelwolf." The name is a compound of two elements: "Athal" or "Adel," meaning "noble," and "wolf," meaning "wolf." It emerged during the early medieval period, around the 6th to 8th centuries AD, in regions inhabited by Germanic tribes such as the Franks and Saxons.
The name's earliest recorded use can be traced back to the 9th century, appearing in various historical documents and records from that time. One of the earliest known individuals to bear the name was Adolph, Count of Nassau, who lived in the 11th century and played a significant role in the Holy Roman Empire.
Throughout history, the name Adolph has been associated with several notable figures. One of the most famous was Adolph of Nassau (1292-1298), who was elected King of the Romans in 1292 and reigned until his death. Another prominent individual was Adolph Frederick (1710-1771), King of Sweden from 1751 until his death, known for his efforts to modernize and strengthen the Swedish military.
In the realm of literature, Adolph Freiherr Knigge (1752-1796) was a renowned German author and philosopher, best known for his work "On Human Relations," which became a guide to etiquette and social conduct. Adolph Menzel (1815-1905) was a German artist who excelled in various mediums, including painting, etching, and sculpture, and is celebrated for his realistic depictions of contemporary life.
Moving to the 20th century, Adolph Rupp (1901-1977) was a highly successful American college basketball coach, leading the University of Kentucky to four NCAA championships and earning numerous accolades for his contributions to the sport.
While the name has a long and rich history, it is important to note that its association with Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), the infamous leader of Nazi Germany, has significantly diminished its popularity in recent times. Nevertheless, the name's origins and early significance remain an integral part of its linguistic and cultural heritage.
People
Adolph + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Adolph as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Adolph: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Adolph?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,224 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Adolph going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 81,144 US residents.
Is Adolph a common name?
We classify Adolph as "Rare". It ranks above 96.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 18,765 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Adolph most popular?
The single biggest year for Adolph was 1917, when 681 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Adolph is about 67 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Adolph in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,968 people with the name Adolph, or 1.31 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,626 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Adolph in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Adolph?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Adolph appears almost entirely male. Of the 3,971 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Adolph?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Adolph is White at 41.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (30.2%) and Black (23.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Adolph most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Adolph in the 2020 Census, accounting for 41.8% (1,660 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Adolph in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Adolph a male name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Adolph in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Adolph still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Adolph in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Adolph can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Adolph?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.