# Wulf

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For other uses, see [Wulf (disambiguation)](/source/Wulf_(disambiguation)).

***Wulf*** ([Common Germanic](/source/Common_Germanic) *[wulfaz](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix%3AProto-Germanic%2Fwulfaz)* "[wolf](/source/Wolf)") was one of the most prolific elements in early [Germanic names](/source/Germanic_name). It could figure as the first element in [Germanic dithematic name](/source/Germanic_dithematic_name), as in *[Wulfstan](/source/Wulfstan_(disambiguation))*, but was especially common especially as the second element, in the form *-ulf*, *-olf* as in *[Cynewulf](/source/Cynewulf)*, *[Rudolph](/source/Rudolph_(name))*, *[Ludolf](/source/Ludolf)*, *[Adolf](/source/Adolf)*, etc. Förstemann[1] explains this as originally motivated by the wolf as an animal sacred to [Wodanaz](/source/Wodanaz), but notes that the large number of names indicates that the element had become a meaningless suffix of male names at an early time (and was therefore no longer considered a "[pagan](/source/Germanic_paganism)" element at the time of [Christianisation](/source/Germanic_Christianity)). Some early missionaries among Germanic folk still used it, like bishop [Wulfilas](/source/Wulfilas) however his family had been adopted earlier by the [Goths](/source/Goths). By the tenth century, there was clearly no pagan connotation left with such names, and saints and bishops bore names such as [Wulfstan](/source/Wulfstan_(died_956)) or [Wolfgang](/source/Wolfgang_of_Regensburg)).

Förstemann counts 381 names in *-ulf*, *-olf*, among which only four are feminine.

## Hypocorisms

The numerous names in *-wulf, -ulf, -olf* gave rise to [hypocorisms](/source/Hypocorisms) from an early time, which were later also treated as given names in their own right. Among such names are the Anglo-Saxon *Offa*, *Yffe*, *Uffa*, *Wuffa*. Corresponding continental forms are *Uffo, Uffi*. The name of the ancient tribe of the [Ubii](/source/Ubii) may also be related.[2][3]

[Offa of Angel](/source/Offa_of_Angel) is a legendary [king of the Angles](/source/King_of_the_Angles) recorded in the 9th-century [genealogical tradition](/source/Anglo-Saxon_genealogies) of the *[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle](/source/Anglo-Saxon_Chronicle)*. Most of this tradition is spurious, but in the case of Offa, a case for possible historicity of a 5th-century figure has been made because of a matching account by [Saxo Grammaticus](/source/Saxo_Grammaticus). [Offa of Essex](/source/Offa_of_Essex) and [Offa of Mercia](/source/Offa_of_Mercia) are two historical Anglo-Saxon kings. Offa of Mercia is said to have had been named Winfreth originally, and to have been the son of an ealdorman named Tingfrith. Because he miraculously recovered from a state of lameness and blindness as a child, he was called "the second Offa", after Offa of Angel, whose legend states that he underwent a similar recovery.[4]

[Wuffa](/source/Wuffa) is recorded as an early kings of the East Angles, eponymous of the [Wuffingas](/source/Wuffingas) dynasty.

The Scandinavian form is *[Ulf](/source/Ulf)*, e.g. [Ulf the Earl](/source/Ulf_the_Earl) (d. 1026). The *ylva* in the name of [Ingrid Ylva](/source/Ingrid_Ylva) (13th century) is presumably an epithet and not a hypocorism of a dithematic name (i.e. "Ingrid the she-wolf").

## Surname

Further information: [De Wolf](/source/De_Wolf), [Volf](/source/Volf), [Wolf (name)](/source/Wolf_(name)), [Wolfe (surname)](/source/Wolfe_(surname)), [Wolff](/source/Wolff), [Woolf (surname)](/source/Woolf_(surname)) and [Wulff (disambiguation)](/source/Wulff_(disambiguation))

The surname Wulf (and variants) is a typical example of a [surname derived from a given name](/source/Surname#Given_name), often a [patronymic](/source/Patronymic) in origin. These names by their nature can occur repeatedly and independently just based on the prevalence of the given name from which it is derived. [Anglo-Norman](/source/Anglo-Norman_language) variants include Wolfes, Woolf, Woolfe, Woulf, Wulff, Woof, Wooff, etc.

Early instances of this surname in Germany include one Tyle Wulf who lived in [Treuenbrietzen](/source/Treuenbrietzen) in 1375 (*Archiv for Sippenforschung und alle verwandten Gebiete*) and one Nivelung Wolf who was a citizen of [Cologne](/source/Cologne,_Germany) in 1135 (*Kolner Schreinsurkunden*).

Other people with the surname include:

- [Andrea Wulf](/source/Andrea_Wulf) (born 1972), English biographer
- [Berthold Wulf](/source/Berthold_Wulf) (1926–2012), German priest, poet and philosopher
- [Christoph Wulf](/source/Christoph_Wulf) (born 1944), German anthropologist
- [Georg Wulf](/source/Georg_Wulf) (1895–1927), German aviation pioneer and aircraft manufacturer
- [Hermann Wulf](/source/Hermann_Wulf) (1915-1990), German World War II officer and post-war Generalmajor
- [Joseph Wulf](/source/Joseph_Wulf) (1912–1974), German-Polish-Jewish historian and Holocaust survivor
- [Mareike Wulf](/source/Mareike_Wulf) (born 1979), German politician
- [Marie Wulf](/source/Marie_Wulf) (1685–1738), Danish pietist preacher
- [Maurice De Wulf](/source/Maurice_De_Wulf) (1867–1947), Belgian philosopher and professor
- [Oliver R. Wolf](/source/Oliver_Reynolds_Wulf) (1897–1987), American chemist, physicist, and meteorologist
- [Rudi Wulf](/source/Rudi_Wulf) (born 1984), New Zealand rugby union player
- [Rudolf Wulf](/source/Rudolf_Wulf) (1905–1972), German Generalmajor during World War II
- [Steve Wulf](/source/Steve_Wulf) (born 1950), American sports writer and editor
- [Theodor Wulf](/source/Theodor_Wulf) (1868–1946), German physicist and Jesuit priest
- [William Wulf](/source/William_Wulf) (born 1939), American computer scientist
- [Vincent Wulf](/source/Vincent_Wulf) (born 1973), French rugby league footballer

## References

1. E. Förstemann, *Altdeutsches Namenbuch* (1856; [online facsimile](https://archive.org/stream/altdeutschesnam00frgoog))

1. K. Müllenhoff, Zeitschrift für deutsches Alterthum und deutsche Literatur 9 (1853), 130f.

1. Finn Magnusen, 'A dissertation on the Ruthwell Obelisk and the Anglo-Saxon runes' in: Report addressed by the Royal society of northern antiquaries to its British and American members, Kongelige Nordiske oldskriftselskab (Denmark), trans. George Gordon Macdougal, John M'Caul, 1836, [p. 148](https://books.google.com/books?id=mdARAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA148)

1. Johann Martin Lappenberg, trans. Benjamin Thorpe, *A History of England Under the Anglo-Saxon Kings: From earliest times to 800*, 1845, p. 227.

- Franz Stark, *Die Kosenamen der Germanen: eine Studie*, 1868, [p. 23](https://books.google.com/books?id=MOtIAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA23).

## See also

- [Wuffingas](/source/Wuffingas)
- [Wulfing](/source/Wulfing)
- [Wolves in Germanic mythology](/source/Wolves_in_Germanic_mythology)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Wulf](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wulf) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wulf?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.