Adolf

See also: Adólf

English

Etymology

From Old High German adal (“noble”) + wulf (“wolf”). Doublet of Ethelwolf from Old English Æþelwulf.

Proper noun

Adolf (plural Adolfs)

1. A male given name from the Germanic languages, variant of Adolph.

Usage notes

• Very rarely given to children since World War II because of its association with Adolf Hitler.

Translations

male given name — see Adolph

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈadolf]

Proper noun

Adolf m anim

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Adolph

Declension

Declension of Adolf (hard masculine animate)

	singular	plural
nominative	Adolf	Adolfové
genitive	Adolfa	Adolfů
dative	Adolfovi, Adolfu	Adolfům
accusative	Adolfa	Adolfy
vocative	Adolfe	Adolfové
locative	Adolfovi, Adolfu	Adolfech
instrumental	Adolfem	Adolfy

Danish

Proper noun

Adolf

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Adolph

Usage notes

• Rare after World War II.

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈaː.dɔlf/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Adolf

Proper noun

Adolf m

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Adolph

Related terms

• Ad
• Addo
• Adolphus
• Adulf
• Dolf
• Dolfje

Faroese

Proper noun

Adolf m

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Adolph

Usage notes

Patronymics

• son of Adolf: Adolfsson
• daughter of Adolf: Adolfsdóttir

Declension

	singular
	indefinite
nominative	Adolf
accusative	Adolf
dative	Adolfi
genitive	Adolfs

German

Alternative forms

• Adulf

Etymology

From Old High German adal (“noble”) + wolf (“wolf”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈaːdɔlf/

• Audio:

  (file)

Proper noun

Adolf m (proper noun, strong, genitive Adolfs or (with an article) Adolf)

1. a male given name from Old High German, equivalent to English Adolph

Usage notes

• Adolf was one of the most popular names between 1890 and 1905, after which it began to become less common. It saw a renewed rise in popularity between 1933 and 1941, but remained below the levels of the turn of the century. Since the end of the 1940s, it became very rare; when used at all it was generally as a middle name. In the GDR it was even entirely forbidden, which means that noticeably fewer Adolfs live in that region than in other German-speaking areas. In 2006, there was 1 baby in a sample of 27 700 who was given the middle name Adolf. As of 1998, there lived about about 75 000 Germans named Adolf.

Related terms

• Ad, Adalwolf, Adi, Ado, Adolph, Dolf, Dolfi, Athaulf

Hungarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɒdolf]
• Hyphenation: Adolf
• Rhymes: -olf

Proper noun

Adolf

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Adolph

Declension

Inflection (stem in -o-, back harmony)

	singular	plural
nominative	Adolf	Adolfok
accusative	Adolfot	Adolfokat
dative	Adolfnak	Adolfoknak
instrumental	Adolffal	Adolfokkal
causal-final	Adolfért	Adolfokért
translative	Adolffá	Adolfokká
terminative	Adolfig	Adolfokig
essive-formal	Adolfként	Adolfokként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	Adolfban	Adolfokban
superessive	Adolfon	Adolfokon
adessive	Adolfnál	Adolfoknál
illative	Adolfba	Adolfokba
sublative	Adolfra	Adolfokra
allative	Adolfhoz	Adolfokhoz
elative	Adolfból	Adolfokból
delative	Adolfról	Adolfokról
ablative	Adolftól	Adolfoktól
non-attributive possessive – singular	Adolfé	Adolfoké
non-attributive possessive – plural	Adolféi	Adolfokéi

Possessive forms of Adolf

possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	Adolfom	Adolfjaim
2nd person sing.	Adolfod	Adolfjaid
3rd person sing.	Adolfja	Adolfjai
1st person plural	Adolfunk	Adolfjaink
2nd person plural	Adolfotok	Adolfjaitok
3rd person plural	Adolfjuk	Adolfjaik

Icelandic

Alternative forms

• Adólf

Etymology

Likely borrowed from German Adolf.

Proper noun

Adolf m (proper noun, genitive singular Adolfs)

1. a male given name

Declension

Declension of Adolf (sg-only masculine)

indefinite singular
nominative	Adolf
accusative	Adolf
dative	Adolf
genitive	Adolfs

References

• Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989) Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies, →ISBN (Available at Málið.is under the “Eldri orðabækur” tab.)
• Kristín Bjarnadóttir, editor (2002–2025), “Adolf”, in Beygingarlýsing íslensks nútímamáls [The Database of Modern Icelandic Inflection] (in Icelandic), Reykjavík: The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies
• Mörður Árnason (2019) Íslensk orðabók, 5th edition, Reykjavík: Forlagið

Polish

Etymology

From Old High German adal (“noble”) + wulf (“wolf”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈa.dɔlf/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -adɔlf
• Syllabification: A‧dolf

Proper noun

Adolf m pers (female equivalent Adolfa or Adolfina)

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Adolph

Declension

Declension of Adolf

	singular	plural
nominative	Adolf	Adolfowie/Adolfy (deprecative)
genitive	Adolfa	Adolfów
dative	Adolfowi	Adolfom
accusative	Adolfa	Adolfów
instrumental	Adolfem	Adolfami
locative	Adolfie	Adolfach
vocative	Adolfie	Adolfowie

Further reading

• Adolf in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Slovak

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈadoɫf/

Proper noun

Adolf m pers (genitive singular Adolfa, nominative plural Adolfovia, genitive plural Adolfov, declension pattern of chlap)

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Adolph

Declension

Declension of Adolf
(pattern chlap)

	singular	plural
nominative	Adolf	Adolfovia
genitive	Adolfa	Adolfov
dative	Adolfovi	Adolfom
accusative	Adolfa	Adolfov
locative	Adolfovi	Adolfoch
instrumental	Adolfom	Adolfmi

Derived terms

• Ado
• Dolo
• Dolfo
• Adko

Further reading

• “Adolf”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025

Swedish

Etymology

From Runic Swedish Aulfr.

Proper noun

Adolf c (genitive Adolfs)

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Adolph

Usage notes

• The name of four Swedish kings. Due to its association with Hitler, the name became rare after World War II.