Meaning of the nameRalf

Ralf is a male name of Germanic origin, a variant of Ralph, whose old form joins two elements meaning 'counsel' and 'wolf'.

Meaning

“counsel and wolf”

Source: Wiktionary: Ralph · Wiktionary: Rǣdwulf

People (2022): 2,879
Rank in Brazil: #4,004
Median age: 35 years
2010 Census: 3,403; people

Ralf in the 2022 Census

People with the first name Ralf, by the decade they were born. In the chart, 70 = the 1970s and 20+ = 2020 to 2022. The largest group was born in the 1980s (878 people).

0 women 2,865 men

Source: IBGE, 2022 Demographic Census, Nomes no Brasil. The census counts the first name of people alive in 2022; small counts are not published, and the first group covers everyone born before 1940. How to read these data.

Where the name Ralf is most common

States with the highest share of people named Ralf in the population, in the 2022 Census.

Santa Catarina 0.005%
Rio de Janeiro 0.002%
São Paulo 0.002%
Minas Gerais 0.002%
Bahia 0.001%

All states

State	People	% of population
São Paulo	765	0.002%
Santa Catarina	411	0.005%
Rio de Janeiro	333	0.002%
Minas Gerais	298	0.002%
Bahia	183	0.001%
Paraná	148	0.001%
Rio Grande do Sul	130	0.001%
Espírito Santo	83	0.002%
Goiás	80	0.001%
Amazonas	71	0.002%
Pernambuco	64	0.001%
Pará	53	0.001%
Mato Grosso do Sul	43	0.002%
Mato Grosso	41	0.001%
Distrito Federal	39	0.001%
Maranhão	19	0.000%
Paraíba	18	0.001%
Piauí	17	0.001%
Alagoas	16	0.001%

States with fewer than 15 people with the name are not shown: IBGE does not publish those counts.

About the name Ralf

According to Wiktionary, Ralph comes from Middle English Radulf, from Old English Rǣdwulf and, further back, from Proto-Germanic; Behind the Name describes it as a contracted form of Old Norse Ráðúlfr (or of Norman Radulf). Wiktionary glosses the two Old English elements of the name as rǣd, 'counsel', and wulf, 'wolf', without giving a single translation for the whole. Ralf appears in Wiktionary as a German and Swedish form, taken from English Ralph in the nineteenth century, and Behind the Name lists it as a variant of Ralph. In the 2022 Census, IBGE recorded 2,879 people named Ralf, with a median age of 35.

It is the most common spelling in the group and the short form, without the PH; proportionally, IBGE shows it as most frequent in Santa Catarina.

Other spellings of Ralf

Spelling	People (2022)
Ralf	2,879
Ralph	1,686

Sources

Wiktionary: Ralph · en.wiktionary.org · meaning
Wiktionary: Rǣdwulf · en.wiktionary.org · meaning
Wiktionary: Ralf · en.wiktionary.org · origin
Behind the Name: Ralph · behindthename.com · origin
Behind the Name: Ralf · behindthename.com · origin

Questions about the name Ralf

What does the name Ralf mean?

Ralf means “counsel and wolf”, according to Wiktionary.

How many people are named Ralf in Brazil?

IBGE's 2022 Census recorded 2,879 people with the first name Ralf, which ranks it number 4,004 among the country's names. The largest group was born in the 1980s.

Is Ralf a boy's or a girl's name?

Ralf is a male name: in the 2022 Census, 0 women and 2,865 men had this name (IBGE does not publish very small counts).

What is the origin of the name Ralf?

Ralf is a name of Germanic origin. The sources are listed at the end of the page.

In which Brazilian state is Ralf most common?

Proportionally, in Santa Catarina: 0.005% of the state's population is named Ralf (411 people), according to the 2022 Census.

What are the other spellings of Ralf?

Ralph. IBGE counts each spelling separately.

More names of Germanic origin

See all

Spotted a mistake? Report a correction for Ralf with a source. See the methodology.