Names That Mean Wolf

Sure, he'd probably get a certain amount of red-nosed teasing around the holiday, but a boy named Rudolph could probably take it. Besides, he's got other, more distinguished namesakes -- the great ballet dancer Nureyev, silent screen Lothario Valentino and 9-11 Mayor Giuliani.

A nickname name heard in Spanish-speaking cultures, might lead to "loopy" jokes here.

While the most famous Channing is the very male Channing Tatum, the name is now given about a third of the time for girls. It makes an attractive surname-name for either gender.

The Wolfe spelling shifts this name from animal name to surname-name, aggressive to aristocratic. One source suggests that bearers of the Wolfe family name were all fierce and cunning and/or hunters of wolves. An intriguing choice.

This ancient name is that of the hero of the epic Beowulf, which is thought to be the oldest-ever poem in English lit written in the vernacular. J. R. R. Tolkien used the poem as one of his inspirations for The Lord of the Rings.

A half-man, half-wolf character in the Elden Ring video game franchise bears this name, which fittingly is the Welsh word for "wolf".

Ubbe or Ubba was a 9th-century Viking and one of the commanders of the Great Heathen Army that invaded Anglo-Saxon England in the 9th century.

If there are too many Connors in your neighborhood, this name is equally authentic and much more unusual. Spelled Conal or Conall, it's a prominent name in Irish history, borne by a number of kings and heroes.

A domesticated take on Wolf, if the animal name is too ferocious for your liking. Wolfie has never charted as a given name in the US, but that may soon change now that Wolf names are of interest following Kylie Jenner's baby name change.

Ylva may look like it belongs with the Eva family of names, but it actually derives from Ulf, a name meaning "wolf." It's not a very intuitive name to English-speakers, and likely won't get picked up in the US anytime soon. At last count, it was only given to five American baby girls.

Lupine (spelled Lupin outside of North America) is a flower related to sweetpeas. It was given its wolfish meaning because the plant was said to deplete the soil. Comedian Jenny Slate used it as a middle name for her daughter Ida in 2020.

World War II stamped a permanent verboten on Adolph.

Notable Wolfs like Blitzer, Mankowitz, and Kahn give this name a masculine bent, but nature names are inherently unisex, so we see no reason why Wolf can't be used on a baby girl.

Historically Wolf has been more common among German (where it's pronounced Vulf) and Jewish families, occasionally as a nickname for Wolfgang.

The nickname Wolfie softens and feminizes Wolf, while Wolfe turns it into a surname.

Also related to the word for wolf, this name has a first syllable that's not appealing to the American ear. Better ic-ending choices: Dominic, Frederic, Eric.

This softer version of Adolf is sadly still off-limits due to the connotations with Hitler.

A fierce nature name which could give cool short form Nash.

A common Scandinavian name, but hard to imagine being used elsewhere.

This common Jewish surname — originally spelled Volfson — works as a modern and on-trend segue to the cool nickname Wolf, if Wolfgang or Wolfric feel a bit too heavy. With animal names like Wolf (along with Bear and Fox) shooting up the charts in recent years, Wolfson has plenty of undiscovered potential. A famous bearer of the surname is British politician David Wolfson, who was knighted Baron Wolfson of Sunningdale.

Kennelly could be an upbeat modern namesake for a Grandpa Kenneth; it can also be spelled Kenneally.

Romanticizes Rudolph and distances the name from the red-nosed reindeer. After remaining steadily in the US Top 500 for much of the twentieth century, Rodolfo has been slipping of late.