| Gender | Male |
|---|---|
| Origin | |
| Word/name | Old Norse, Old English |
| Meaning | "Wolf counsel" |
| Other names | |
| Related names | Raul, Raoul, Ralphie, Rudolph |
| See also | Robert, Roland, Roger, Rose, Roderick, Rodney, Raymond |
Ralph (pronounced /rælf/ RALF or /reɪf/ RAYF)[1] is a male given name of English origin, derived from the Old English Rædwulf and Old High German Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse Raðulfr (rað "counsel" and ulfr "wolf").[2]
The most common forms are:
- Ralph, the common variant form in English, which takes either of the given pronunciations.
- Rafe, variant form which is less common; this spelling is always pronounced /reɪf/, as are all other English spellings without "l".
- Raife, a very rare variant.
- Raif, a very rare variant.[3]
- Ralf, the traditional variant form in Dutch, German, Swedish, and Polish.
- Ralfs, the traditional variant form in Latvian.
- Raoul, the traditional variant form in French.
- Raúl, the traditional variant form in Spanish.
- Raul, the traditional variant form in Portuguese and Italian.
- Raül, the traditional variant form in Catalan.
- Rádhulbh, the traditional variant form in Irish.
