Boy names that mean wolf
No animal was named after more often in the Germanic north. The wolf was the prestige predator — the one that hunted in a disciplined group, survived the winter and outlasted the men who hunted it — so parents put it in their sons' names for a thousand years. Ten of those names are still usable, and they are all here.
- WolfWUULFGerman
The animal, used as a name on its own since the early Germanic period. In that world the wolf stood for endurance and loyalty to the pack, not savagery.
- WolfgangVOLF-gahngGerman
Wolf path, from wolf plus gang (going, journey). Mozart signed himself Wolfgang Amadè; Goethe was Johann Wolfgang.
- WolframVOLF-rahmGerman
Wolf plus hraban, raven. The two beasts that follow an army are paired on purpose.
- UlfOOLFOld Norse
Wolf, from úlfr, with nothing added. Still an ordinary name in Sweden and Norway.
- RolfROLFOld Norse
Hróðr (fame) plus úlfr (wolf) — the wolf that is spoken of. Contracted from Hróðúlfr.
- RalphRALFEnglish
The second element is úlfr, wolf, and it is not in doubt. The first is argued over: hróðr, fame, or ráð, counsel.
- Raúlrah-OOLSpanish
Germanic rad (counsel) plus wulf (wolf). The same name English contracted into Ralph, arriving by way of Old French Raoul.
- ZevZEVHebrew
Wolf: zə'ēv, the ordinary Hebrew noun for the animal, used unchanged as a name.
- FarkasFOR-koshHungarian
Wolf. The word is literally the tailed one, a substitute term for a creature whose true name was avoided.
- ConorKON-erIrish
Traditionally lover of hounds, from cú — and Old Irish used cú for the wolf as readily as for the dog. Hedge this one; the second element is also disputed.
Two ways a name means wolf
The bare noun. Wolf, Ulf, Zev and Farkas are simply the word for the animal in German, Old Norse, Hebrew and Hungarian, handed to a child without decoration. Farkas is the strangest of them: Hungarian built the word out of farok, tail, plus a suffix meaning having, because the animal's real name was thought unlucky to say aloud. Finnish did the same thing with the bear, which is how Otso happened.
The compound. Wolfgang, Wolfram, Rolf, Ralph and Raúl are all two-part Germanic names with the wolf in one half. This is where the wolf really lived: úlfr and wulf were among the most productive building blocks in the whole Germanic naming kit, and they generated dozens of compounds. Most of those compounds have since become unwearable. Rudolph, Randolph and Adolf all end in the same wolf and none of them is coming back, which is the real reason this list is ten names long rather than thirty.
One useful thing to know before you commit: the wolf half of a compound is usually the reliable half. First elements get worn down and re-analysed over centuries, which is why the Ralph page hedges between fame and counsel for that name's opening syllable while stating the wolf flatly. If the wolf is what you are after, a compound delivers it. Browse the rest of the meanings index if you want the neighbouring animals.