Adolf

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Adolf
Gender Male
Meaning Noble wolf
Origin German
Popularity Popular names page
Search Wiktionary Look up Adolf in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
For other uses, see Adolf (disambiguation).

Adolf, also spelled Adolph and sometimes Latinised to Adolphus, is a given name used in German-speaking countries, in Scandinavia, in the Netherlands and to a lesser extent in various Central European countries. The name is derived from the Old High German Athalwolf, a composition of athal, or adal, meaning noble, and wolf; in sequence, making Adolf another compound. Compare Rudolf.

The use of Adolf as a given name has drastically declined following the regime of Nazi Germany[citation needed] and its Führer, Adolf Hitler, and it has since been a widely avoided name for newborn boys due to its negative association with Hitler. It gained very high popularity during the Nazi era, however, and thus can sometimes still be found among now-elderly people who were born during those times. Similarly, the French version, Adolphe — previously a fairly common name in France and also the name of a classical work of French literature — has virtually disappeared, and Adolfo as the Italian version of the name has suffered a similar fate. However, the Spanish Adolfo has not become stigmatised in the same way, and is still in common use in Spanish-speaking countries.

Adolphus can also appear as a surname, as in John Adolphus, the English historian.

Adolf Hitler spelled his name with an "f", not a "ph".[1]

Contents

[edit] Monarchs and noblemen

[edit] People with the given name Adolf or Adolph(e)

[edit] People with the surname Adolphus

[edit] Fictional Characters

[edit] See also

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf"