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Wolfgang

#1,519 in 2025Boys' name

Wolf + path, course

Wolfgang has been given to 3,220 babies in the U.S. since 1929. In 2025 it ranked #1,519 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2021, with 148 recorded.

Babies named Wolfgang, 2025

1 in 28,800

Wolfgang over time, 1880–2025

Boys
05010015018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Wolfgang: meaning, origin, and history

Wolf + path, course

Germanic languages and German

What Wolfgang means

Wolfgang means “wolf + path, course”, associated with wolf and gang.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

Borrowed from German Wolfgang (reinforced by Medieval Latin Wolfgangus), from Middle High German Wolfgang, from Old High German Wolfgang, from wolf (“wolf”) + gang (“path, course”).

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Wolfgang (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Wolfgang is used in English, Danish, German, Middle High German, Old High German and Portuguese. Its origins include Germanic languages and German.

Wolfgang comes through German Wolfgang, Medieval Latin Wolfgangus, Middle High German Wolfgang and Old High German Wolfgang.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Wolfgang is pronounced /ˈwʊlf.ɡæŋ/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 3,220 boys were recorded with the name Wolfgang between 1929 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 148 in 2021; its best national rank was #1,282 in 2019.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #1,352 in 2020 to #1,519 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #1,480 in 2015 to #1,519 in 2025.

How common is Wolfgang?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 28,800
115 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 14,900
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#1,519
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
19,983 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Wolfgang 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 2025 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 5002%

Put another way: gather 19,983 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Wolfgang. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Wolfgangs were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Wolfgang was born before 2012 — so the typical Wolfgang is around 13 today.

Median birth year
2012
About 13 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
31.1% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
69.7%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
3,188
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 31.1% of all recorded uses (1,002).

Is Wolfgang 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
+20
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
−167
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−39
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
1.02×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
77.7%
Peak was 2021 (148)
Years since peak
4
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
14.6% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,282
2019

Where Wolfgang is used

Across 2016–2025, Wolfgang was most concentrated in Illinois — about 1 in 8,333 boys, against 1 in 16,518 across all states with data. It was least common in New Jersey (1 in 100,000).

112 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Illinois1 in 8,333
  2. 2California1 in 9,091
  3. 3Michigan1 in 11,111
  4. 4New York1 in 11,111
  5. 5Wisconsin1 in 11,111
  6. 6Washington1 in 12,500
  7. 7Oregon1 in 14,286
  8. 8Utah1 in 14,286

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Wolfgang around the world

Where Wolfgang ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2003–2025
    #2,269
    in 2025
  • France
    1900–2021
    #5,048
    in 2021
  • Canada
    1992–2024
    #1,536
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1950–2008
    #726
    in 2008

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Wolfgang

People whose public names include Wolfgang, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Wolfgang in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Wolfgang. Linked forms have their own page here.

VukWolfFarkasVolfangoVolfgangWolfango

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Wolfgang by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#1,519
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 167
Best rank ever
#1,282
2019
Peak year
2021
148 that year
First recorded
1929
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
3,220
Count in 2025
115

Names similar to Wolfgang

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

WolfWolfeKhangWolframThangNgawangHoangQuangShivangKrishangSamnangSaarangSangChangSomnangMangLangVedangWolfordVangDangSarangYangWolcott

Names with a curve like Wolfgang

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Wolfgang, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

SteeleUmarNikolaKaineDovidYakovLazarusDovAnasYasinAmmarNiall

Sibling names for Wolfgang

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

Explore around Wolfgang

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