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The wolf Surname

wolf Name Meaning and History

  1. English, Danish, and German: from a short form of the various Germanic compound names with a first element wolf ‘wolf’, or a byname or nickname with this meaning. The wolf was native throughout the forests of Europe, including Britain, until comparatively recently. In ancient and medieval times it played an important role in Germanic mythology, being regarded as one of the sacred beasts of Woden. This name is widespread throughout northern, central, and eastern Europe, as well as in Britain and German-speaking countries.
  2. German: habitational name for someone living at a house distinguished by the sign of a wolf, Middle High German wolf.
  3. Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the Yiddish male personal name Volf meaning ‘wolf’, which is associated with the Hebrew personal name Binyamin (see Benjamin). This association stems from Jacob’s dying words ‘Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil’ (Genesis 49:27).
  4. Irish: variant spelling of Woulfe.

Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
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The wolf name in History

A unique volume of fascinating facts, statistics and commentary following the wolf family name as far back in history as possible.

wolf Family Facts

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Distribution of wolf Families in the US in 1920
Number of wolf families
 1234-2466
 412-1233		 1-411
 0
Compiled by Ancestry.com from the 1920 US Federal Census records

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Year

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The information for this map came from Ancestry.com’s US Federal Census Collection.
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