Raoul
rah-OOL
A French form of Ralph/Rudolf, ultimately tied to the idea of a wise or famed wolf.
Meaning
Raoul is the French form of a Germanic name family seen in Ralph and Rudolf. The excerpted sources connect it with the Old Germanic elements commonly glossed as "help or counsel" and, in one 19th-century entry, as "wolf of fame." In practice, it is best understood as a traditional Germanic name that came into French as Raoul.
Origin
FrenchOld Germanicmasculine
Fun fact
Older reference books note Raoul as an Anglo-Norman form related to Ralph, and it turns up in medieval English records and surnames like Rawlins and Rawlinson.