Óláfr

Old Norse

Alternative forms

• Óleifr, Áleifr

Etymology

From Proto-Norse *ᚨᚾᚢᛚᚨᛁᛒᚨᛉ (*anulaibaʀ /⁠Anulaibaz⁠/) (whence also variants Óleifr, Áleifr, Old English Ānlāf), from Proto-Germanic *Anulaibaz, consisting of *anô (“ancestor”) and *laibō (“remainder”). The first part of the name is cognate to German Ahn (“ancestor”) and Latin anus (“old woman”).

Pronunciation

• (9th century West Norse) IPA^(key): /ˈɒ̃ːlɑːβɹ̝/, [ˈɒ̃ː.lɑːβ̥ɹ̻̊˔]
• (13th century Icelandic) IPA^(key): /ˈoːlɒːvr/

Proper noun

Óláfr m

1. a male given name

Descendants

• Icelandic: Ólafur, Óli
• Faroese: Ólavur, Óli
• Norwegian: Olav, Ola, → Olaf
• Old Swedish: Olawær (Early Old Swedish), Olaf
  • Swedish: Olof, Olov, Olle
• Danish: Olaf, Olav, Ole
• → English: Olaf
• → Estonian: Olev
• → Finnish: Olavi, Olli, Uolevi
• → Latin: Olaus
  • → Faroese: Lávus
• → Old Irish: Amlaíb
  • → Irish: Amhlaoibh
  • → Scottish Gaelic: Amhlaidh, Amhlaigh
• → Polish: Olaf
• → Portuguese: Olavo
• → Skolt Sami: Åʹll, Åållaž
• → Spanish: Olavo

References

• “Olaf” in: J. van der Schaar, “Woordenboek van voornamen”, 8. druk, Utrecht 1994, Prisma Woordenboeken, Uitgeverij Het Spectrum, →ISBN
• Olav; in: Eivind Vågslid, Norderlendske fyrenamn, 1988, →ISBN
• “Óláfr” in: Richard Cleasby, Guðbrandur Vigfússon — An Icelandic-English Dictionary (1874)