Rudolph

**Rudolph**, **Rudolf**, **Rudolfo**, **Rodulphus** or **Rudolphus** (French: ***Rodolphe***, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish: ***Rodolfo***) is a masculine first name, and, less commonly, a surname. It is a modern form of the ancient Germanic name Hrōþiwulfaz, deriving from the Proto-Germanic elements *Hrōþi*, *Hruod*, *Hróðr* or *Hrōð*, meaning "fame", "glory" "honour", "renown", "godlike", and *olf* meaning "wolf" (compare Robert). It is a commonly used name in Europe and South America but in North American countries it is rare, mostly due to its association with the Christmas character Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

## Popularity and trivia

The name was commonly used among royalty, aristocracy as well as by regular people. The name Rudolph was very popular in the time period from 19th century to early 20th century when it was one of the most common male names. The name was popular during the era of both world wars and was the name of several important political and military leaders of the time. Today, the name is mostly associated with the character Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

## Given name

*Whether a Royal, a political leader or a military leader is one of the principal commanders of a military engagement is determined by their inclusion in the "Commanders and leaders" section in the infobox of the armed conflict.*

### Royalty and nobility

**Kings and Emperors of Germany*** **King Rudolf I of Germany** (1218–1291)
* **Rudolph II, Holy Roman Emperor** (1552-1612), one of the principal commanders of Long Turkish War and Bocskai uprising
**Other Kings*** **Rudolph of France** (c. 890–936), King of France, reigned 923–936
* **King Rudolph I of Bohemia** (1281–1307)
**Other Royalty*** **Rudolph, Count of Ponthieu** (died 866)
* **Rudolph II of Burgundy** (880–937)
* **Rudolf of Rheinfelden** (1025-1080), Duke of Swabia
* **Rudolph II, Count of Habsburg** (died 1232)
* **Rudolf II, Duke of Austria** (1270–1290)
* **Rudolf II, Count Palatine of the Rhine** (1306–1353)
* **Rudolph, Duke of Lorraine** (1320–1346), one of the principal commanders of Hundred Years' War (1337–1360), Battle of Crécy and Hundred Years' War
* **Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria** (1339–1365)
* **Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria** (1858–1889)

### Religious figures

* **Rudolf of Fulda**, 9th century monk, writer and theologian
* **Rudolf von Habsburg-Lothringen** (1788–1831), Archbishop of Olomouc and member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine
* **Rudolf Baláž** (1940–2011). Slovak Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Banská Bystrica from 1990 until his death in 2011.
* **Rudolph Grossman** (1867–1927), Austrian-American rabbi

### Presidents and Prime Ministers

* **Rudolf von Auerswald**, German official who served as Prime Minister of Prussia
* **Rudolf Beran**, Czech politician, Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia and Bohemia and Moravia, one of the principal commanders of Occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938–1945)
* **Gerald Rudolph Ford**, American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States of America from 1974 to 1977
* **Rudolf Kirchschläger**, President of Austria
* **Rudolf de Korte**, Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands
* **Rudolphus "Ruud" Lubbers**, Dutch politician, diplomat and businessman who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1982 to 1994, and as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees from 2001 to 2005
* **Hans-Rudolf Merz**, President of Switzerland
* **Rudolf Minger**, President of Switzerland
* **Rudolf Schuster**, the second President of Slovakia
* **Rudolph Thorbecke**, Dutch liberal statesman, one of the most important Dutch politicians of the 19th century, Prime Minister of The Netherlands

### Secretaries of Defence

* **Rodolfo Graziani**, prominent Italian military officer in the Kingdom of Italy's Regio Esercito (Royal Army) and the Minister of National Defence of the Italian Social Republic, one of the principal commanders of Italian Civil War, Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II, Second Italo-Ethiopian War, North African campaign, Western Desert campaign, Second Italo-Senussi War, British capture of Tobruk, Battle of Ganale Doria, Battle of Beda Fomm, Action at Mechili, Battle of the Ogaden, Battle of Garfagnana, Raid on Bardia, Battle of Sidi Barrani, Spring 1945 offensive in Italy, Italian invasion of Egypt, Gothic line, Dolo hospital airstrike and Operation Compass
* **Rudolf Scharping**, German politician and Minister of defence of Germany
* **Rudolf Walden**, Finnish industrialist and a military leader, commander in-chief of the Finnish army and Minister of Defence of Finland

### Police officers

* **Rodolfo Azurin Jr.**, former police officer who formerly served as the chief of the Philippine National Police, one of the principal commanders of Philippine drug war
### Wartime Figures and military leaders

* **Rudolf Anderson** (1927–1962), American Air Force pilot and first recipient of the Air Force Cross
* **Rudolf Berthold** (1891–1920), German World War I air ace
* **Rudolph Bierwirth**, General officer in the Australian Army
* **Rudolf von Brudermann**, general of Austria-Hungary during the First World War who led the Austro-Hungarian 3rd army during the Battle of Galicia and Battle of Gnila Lipa
* **Rudolf von Bünau**, German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II and one of the chief commanders of Vienna Offensive
* **Rudolph B. Davila**, United States Army officer who received the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions in the European theatre during World War II
* **Rudolf von Eschwege**, German World War I flying ace who was the German Empire's only fighter pilot operating on the Macedonian Front
* **Rudolf Frank**, German Luftwaffe military aviator and night fighter ace during World War II
* **Rudolf Freiherr von Gersdorff**, German army officer who attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler by suicide bombing on 21 March 1943, leader of the unit, soldiers of which discovered the mass graves of the Soviet-perpetrated Katyn massacre
* **Rodolfo P. Hernández**, United States Army soldier
* **Rudolph Hiemstra**, South African Air Force commander
* **Rudolf Koch-Erpach** (1886–1971), German general during World War II who commanded the LVI Panzer Corps and the 1st Army, one of the principal commanders of Battle of Krasnobród (1939)
* **Rudolf Krzák**, Czech soldier, one of the principal commanders of Operation Silica-South, member of the group that was behind the Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich
* **Rudolph Lambart, 10th Earl of Cavan**, British Army officer and Chief of the Imperial General Staff, one of the principal commanders of the Second Boer War and Italian Front (World War I)
* **Rudolf Lüters**, German general, one of the principal commanders of Case White and Case Black
* **Rudolf Maister** (1874-1934) Slovene military officer, poet and political activist, one of the leading perpetrators of Marburg's Bloody Sunday, one of the principal commanders of Austro-Slovene conflict in Carinthia
* **Rudolf Meister**, German general in the Luftwaffe during World War II
* **Rudolf Müller**, Luftwaffe fighter ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II
* **Rudolf von Oppen**, German general, one of the principal commanders of Capture of Damascus
* **Rudolf Perešin**, Croatian fighter pilot serving in the Yugoslav Air Force (JRZ)
* **Rudolph Douglas Raiford**, American World War II combat officer
* **Hans-Rudolf Rösing**, German U-boat commander in World War II
* **Rudolf Schmidt**, general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II, one of the principal commanders of Kozelsk offensive
* **Rudolf Schmundt**, German officer in the Wehrmacht and adjutant to Adolf Hitler during World War II who later tried to unsuccessfully assassinate Hitler
* **Rudolf Sieckenius**, German Generalmajor during World War II, one of the principal commanders of Battle of Berlin
* **Rudolf von Slatin**, Anglo-Austrian soldier and administrator in Sudan
* **Rudolf Freiherr Stöger-Steiner von Steinstätten**, Colonel-General in the Austro-Hungarian army, the last Imperial Minister for War to the Austro-Hungarian Empire during World War I, one of the principal commanders of Battles of the Isonzo
* **Rudolf Toussaint**, German army officer, one of the principal commanders of Prague uprising
* **Rudolf Veiel**, German Panzer general during World War II, one of the principal commanders of German invasion of Greece, Battle of Sedan (1940) and Battle of Boulogne
* **Rudolf Viest**, Slovak military leader, commander of the 1st Czechoslovak army during the Slovak National Uprising
* **Rudolf Windisch**, World War I fighter ace credited with 22 victories

### Nazis and communists

* **Rudolf Brandt** (1909–1948), German Nazi SS officer and leader of the Jewish skeleton collection project
* **Rudolf Creutz**, Austrian Nazi and a high-ranking member of the SS during World War II involved in the implementation of racial resettlement programs and use of torture in the Nazi Occupied Territories, convicted of war crimes in 1948
* **Rudolf Diels**, German Nazi SS official and Director of German secret police Gestapo from 1933 to 1934
* **Rudolf Hess** (1894–1987), Deputy Führer in Nazi Germany best known for his solo flight to Scotland in 1941, one of the principal leaders of Beer Hall Putsch and World War II
* **Rudolf Höss** (1900–1947), German Nazi first commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp
* **Rudolf Jordan**, Nazi Gauleiter in Halle-Merseburg and Magdeburg-Anhalt
* **Rudolf Jung**, instrumental figure and agitator in the German Bohemian Nazi movement,later a member of the Nazi Party
* **Rudolf Lange**, Nazi German SS officer and one of the major perpetrators of the Holocaust, commander of Salaspils concentration camp, one of the leading perpetrators of Jelgava massacre and Rumbula massacre
* **Rudolf Rahn**, Nazi German politician and Plenipotentiary to the Italian Social Republic
* **Rudolf Slánský**, leading Czech Communist politician, Communist party's General Secretary, one of the leading creators and organizers of Communist rule in Czechoslovakia, one of the principal commanders of 1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état
* **Rudolf Spanner**, Director of the Danzig Anatomical Institute during World War II who set up a process to produce soap made from human corpses

### Musicians

* **Rudolf Baumgartner**, Swiss conductor and violinist
* **Sir Rudolf Bing** (1902–1997), British opera impresario and singer
* **Rodolphe Burger**, French composer
* **Rudolf "Rudi" Feenstra**, Dutch DJ and electronic music producer known as Dr. Rude
* **Rudolf Fischer** German musician
* **Rudolf Friml** (1879–1972), American composer of operettas, musicals, songs and piano pieces, and a pianist
* **Rudolph Ganz**, Swiss-born American pianist, conductor, composer, and music educator
* **Rudolf Geurts**, Dutch DJ and record producer known as DOLF and FestDJRuud
* **Rudolph Isley**, American singer-songwriter and one of the founding members of The Isley Brothers
* **Rudolph Lewis**, British bass-baritone
* **Rodolfo "Fito" Páez** (born 1963), Argentine singer-songwriter
* **Rudolf Schenker** (born 1948), German guitarist and founding member of rock band Scorpions
* **Rodolfo Seràgnoli**, Italian DJ and electronic music producer known as Rudeejay
* **Wage Rudolf Supratman** (born 1903), Indonesian songwriter, and the composer who wrote both the melodies and lyric of the anthem Indonesia Raya

### Literature

* **Rudolf G. Binding**, German writer and supporter of Nazi Germany
* **Rudolph Blaumanis**, Latvian writer, journalist and playwright, considered one of the greatest writers in Latvian history and particularly a master of realism
* **Rudolf Fischer**, German writer
* **Rudolf Löwenstein**, German writer

### Others

* **Rudolf Steiner**, Austrian occultist, social reformer, architect, esotericist and claimed clairvoyant

### Fictional characters

* **Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer**, a Christmas fictional and folklore character, one of the most widely known Christmas characters of all time
* **Rudolf**, the main character from 2016 animated film Rudolf the Black Cat
* **Rudolf, Emperor of Rigel**, the sovereign of the realm of Rigel in the fantasy adventure game Fire Emblem
* **Rudolph "Lightning" Jackson**, a character from Total Drama: Revenge of the Island
* **Rudolph "Rudy" Holiday**, a character in the 2018 role-playing video game Deltarune
* **Rudolph "Regular Sized Rudy" Stieblitz**, a character in the animated television series Bob's Burgers
* **King Rudolfo I**, a character in Marvel Comics, the King of the fictional Kingdom of Latveria
* **Prince Rudolfo Fortunov**, a character in Marvel Comics, the former crown prince of Latveria
## References

https://www.behindthename.com/name/rudolf