Adolf

Look up Adolf in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Adolf, also spelled Adolph and sometimes Latinised to Adolphus, is a given name used in German-speaking countries, in Scandinavia, in the Netherlands and Flanders and to a lesser extent in various Central European countries. Adolphus can also appear as a surname, as in John Adolphus, the English historian.

The name is a compound derived from the Old High German Athalwolf, a composition of athal, or adal, meaning noble, and wolf; compare Rudolf. The name is cognate to the Anglo-Saxon name Æthelwulf.

Decline in usage

The use of Adolf as a given name has drastically declined following the collapse of Nazi Germany and its Führer, Adolf Hitler^{[citation needed]}, and it has since been a widely avoided name for newborn boys due to its negative association with Hitler. Adolf Dassler, the founder of Adidas, ended up using his nickname "Adi" in his professional life and for the name of his company. 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 and Portuguese version Adolfo has not become stigmatised in the same way, and is still in common use in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries.

Monarchs and noblemen

• Adolf of Nassau, "King of the Romans" (that is, King of Germany) (1255–1298)
• Adolph I, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen (d. 1473)
• Adolph II, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen (1458-1526)
• Gustav II Adolf of Sweden, King of Sweden (1594–1632)
• Gustaf IV Adolf of Sweden, King of Sweden (1778–1837)
• Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, King of Sweden (1882–1973)
• Adolf Frederick of Sweden, King of Sweden (1710–1771)
• Prince Gustav Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten, Prince of Sweden (1906–1947)
• Adolf VIII, Duke of southern Jutland (1401–1459)
• Adolf of Altena, Archbishop of Cologne (1157–1220)
• Adolf Friedrich II of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1658–1708)
• Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (1817–1905)
• Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe (1817–1893)
• Adolf II, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe (1883–1936)
• Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe, regent of Lippe (1859–1917)
• Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, son of George III of the United Kingdom (1774–1850)
• Ernest Augustus William Adolphus George Frederick, Crown Prince of Hanover (1845–1923)
• Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge

Saints

• St. Adolphus, 9th century Spanish martyr
• St. Adolf of Osnabrück, 13th century German martyr
• St. Adolphus Ludigo-Mkasa, 19th century Ugandan martyr

People with the given name Adolf or Adolph(e)

• Adolphe Adam, French composer and music critic (1803–1856)
• Adolf Albin, Romanian chess player (1848–1920)
• Adolf Anderssen, German chess player (1818–1879)
• Adolf Appellöf, Swedish zoologist (1857–1921)
• Adolph Baller, Jewish Austrian-American pianist
• Adolf Bastian, German anthropologist (1826–1905)
• Adolf Born, Czech artist and filmmaker (1930–)
• Adolf Brand, German journalist (1874–1945)
• Adolf von Baeyer, German chemist (1835–1917)
• Adolf Busch, German violinist and composer (1891–1952)
• Adolphus Busch, American businessman and co-founder of Anheuser-Busch (1839–1913)
• Adolf Butenandt, German biochemist (1903–1995)
• Adolph Caesar, American actor (1933–1986)
• Adolf Cluss, German-American architect (1825–1905)
• Adolph Coors, American businessman and founder of Coors Brewery
• Adolf Daens, Belgian theologian (1839–1907)
• Adolf Dassler, German entrepreneur and founder of Adidas (1900–1978)
• Adolf Deucher, Swiss politician (1831–1912)
• Adolf Dymsza, Polish comedy actor (1900–1975)
• Adolf Ehrnrooth, Finnish general (1905–2004)
• Adolf Eichmann, German war criminal and organizer of the Holocaust (1906–1962)
• Adolf Etolin, Finnish explorer (1799–1876)
• Adolf Eugen Fick, German inventor (1829–1901)
• Adolph Fischer, German labor union activist (1858–1887)
• Adolf Abraham Halevi Fraenkel, German-Israeli mathematician (1891–1965)
• Adolf Galland, German fighter pilot (1912–1996)
• Adolf Glassbrenner, German humourist (1810–1876)
• Adolf Grunbaum, philosopher of science (1923–)
• Adolf von Harnack, German theologian (1851–1930)
• Adolf Hempt, founder of the Pasteur Institute in Novi Sad, Serbia (1874–1943)
• Adolf von Hildebrand (1847–1921), sculptor
• Adolf Bernhard Christoph Hilgenfeld (1823–1907), German theologian
• Adolf Hedin, Swedish newspaper publisher and politician (1834–1905)
• Adolf von Henselt, German composer (1814–1889)
• Adolf Hitler, Austrian-born Nazi German politician, Chancellor, and Dictator. (1889–1945)
• Adolf Hütter, Austrian footballer (1970–)
• Adolf Hurwitz, German mathematician (1859–1919)
• Adolph Joffe, Russian-Jewish diplomat (1883-1927)
• Adolf Kneser, German mathematician (1862–1930)
• Adolph Kolping, German priest (1813–1865)
• Adolf Lande, drug-control official
• Adolf Lindenbaum, Polish mathematician (1904–1941)
• Adolf Loos, Austrian architect (1870–1933)
• Adolf Lu Hitler Marak, Indian politician (born 1948)
• Adolf Lundin, Swedish oil magnate (1932-2006)
• Adolph Marx (1888–1961), the given name of Harpo Marx (He changed his first name to Arthur due to personal dislike for the name Adolph.)
• Adolphe Menjou, American actor and anti-Communist activist (1890–1963)
• Adolf Meyer (psychiatrist), Swiss-American psychiatrist (1866–1950)
• Adolf Meyer (architect), German architect (1881–1929)
• Adolphus Warburton Moore(A. W. Moore), British civil servant and mountaineer (1841–1887)
• Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, Finnish-Swedish explorer (1832–1901)
• Adolf Noreen, Swedish linguist (1854–1925)
• Adolphe Nourrit, French opera singer
• Adolf Oberländer, German characturist (1845–1923)
• Adolph Ochs, American newspaper publisher (1858–1935)
• Adolf Ogi, Swiss politician (1942–)
• Adolf Overweg, German scientist (1822–1852)
• Adolf Pilar von Pilchau, Baltic German politician (1851–1925)
• Adolf Rudnicki, Polish-Jewish author
• Adolf Reinach, German phenomenologist (1883–1917)
• Adolph Rupp, American college basketball coach (1901–1977)
• Adolphe Sax, Belgian musician and inventor of the Saxophone (1814–1894)
• Adolf Friedrich von Schack, German poet (1815–1894)
• Adolf Schärf, President of Austria (1890–1965)
• Adolf Schlagintweit, German explorer (1829–1857)
• Adolf Schmal, Austrian fencer (1872–1919)
• Adolf Schreyer, German painter (1828–1899)
• Adolf von Sonnenthal, Austrian actor (1834–1909)
• Adolf Stieler, German cartographer (1775–1836)
• Adolf Stoecker, German theologian (1835–1909)
• Adolphus Jean Sweet, American Actor (1920–1985)
• Adolph Heinrich Joseph Sutro mayor of San Francisco (1830–1898)
• Adolphe Thiers French Prime Minister, President, and historian (1797–1877)
• Adolf Tolkachev, Soviet engineer and CIA spy (1927–1986)
• Adolf "Dado" Topić, Croatian singer (1949–)
• Adolfas Valeška, Lithuanian-American artist
• Adolf Wilbrandt, German novelist (1837–1911)
• Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus, German chemist (1876–1959)
• Adolf Wölfli, Swiss artist (1864–1930)
• Adolf Ziegler, German painter and politician (1892–1959)

People with the surname Adolphus

• John Adolphus, English historian (1768–1845)
• John Leycester Adolphus, English lawyer, jurist and author (1795–1862)

Fictional characters

• Adolphus Cusins, fictional character in "Major Barbara" by George Bernard Shaw
• Dolph, a character on The Simpsons.
• Dolph, bully on the animated TV show Alfred Jodocus Kwak
• Adolf Kamil & Adolf Kaufmann, title characters of the manga Adolf by Osamu Tezuka.
• Saint Adolphus in Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth.
• Adolf Verybad-mad scientist from Zagor comic book

See also

• Æthelwulf
• Ataulf

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