Olof

Boys' name

Ancestor + remainder, through Óláfr

Olof has been given to 107 babies in the U.S. since 1883. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1914, with 9 recorded.

Babies named Olof, 1934

1 in 346,000

Olof over time, 1880–2025

Boys

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Olof: meaning, origin, and history

Ancestor + remainder, through Óláfr

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Olof means

Olof belongs to the name family reached through Olof → Óláfr. Its meaning is “ancestor + remainder”.

Origin, language, and formation

Olof is used in Swedish.

Olof comes through Old Swedish Olāver, Old Norse Óláfr and Proto-Norse *ᚨᚾᚢᛚᚨᛁᛒᚨᛉ.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Óláfr.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Swedish, Olof is pronounced /²uːlɔf/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 107 boys were recorded with the name Olof between 1883 and 1934. Its highest annual count was 9 in 1914; its best national rank was #821 in 1891.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Olof?

Olof had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 1934, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 1934: 1 in 346,000; 6 of 2,076,780 births
Among boys only: 1 in 172,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 1934: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 239,920 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Olof sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 1934 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 239,920 children born in 1934 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Olof. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Olofs were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Olof was born before 1918 — so the typical Olof is around 107 today.

Median birth year: 1918; About 107 years old
Biggest decade: 1920s; 37.4% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 83.2%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 0; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1920s — 37.4% of all recorded uses (40).

Is Olof rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: —; Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago: New entry; Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago: —; Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago: —; Not published both years
Share of its own peak: 0%; Peak was 1914 (9)
Years since peak: 111; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Volatile; 40.3% average annual change
Best rank ever: #821; 1891

Spellings of Olof

Olof is not the most common spelling — Olin is, with 14.7% against Olof's 0.16%.

Olin14.7%9,929
Lon14.5%9,836
Eloy12.3%8,325
Olen11.3%7,665
Loy6.1%4,111
Lou6.0%4,089
Elon4.6%3,121
Rolf4.6%3,103

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Olof by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #821; 1891
Peak year: 1914; 9 that year
First recorded: 1883
Last recorded: 1934
All-time count: 107
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Olof

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Olon Elof

Sibling names for Olof

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Golda Lauretta Era Leatha Leone Mayme Artie Alpha

For a brother

Gustave Waldo Winfield Dorsey Isadore Aloysius Hyman Regis

Explore around Olof

Top names of 1914, Olof's peak year The 1910s in full Other names that peaked in 1891 Boys' names starting with O Swedish Boy Names