Wolfe
A surname usually from the animal name wolf, often first given as a nickname for fierceness or ferocity.
The #374 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 3,679 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Wolfe is generally a nickname surname from the old Germanic word for the wolf. The form appears in several related languages, including Old English wulf and Old Norse ulfr, all meaning "wolf." In medieval naming, it could be applied to someone thought to be fierce, wild, or wolf-like, and in some cases it may also have been used as a personal name before becoming hereditary.
History
The wolf was a common medieval byname in English and other Germanic naming traditions, and the surname appears early in English records. Over time, the spelling with final -e became a standard English variant alongside Wolf. The name also occurs in Gaelicized contexts as an anglicized form of Irish surnames such as Ó Murchadha? No—the supplied evidence instead points to Wolfe as an English and English-adapted surname, not primarily an Irish one.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
19th-century surname writers often grouped Wolf and Wolfe with other animal-based nicknames like Bear, Fox, and Hare, seeing them as vivid medieval sobriquets.
From the historical record
“WOLF 1 the anc. Teut. animal-name [O.E. WOLFE J wulf = O.Sax. wulf = O.H.Ger. wolf = L.Ger. (incl. the Anglian dialect spoken between Schle.'^wig and Flens- burg) wulf = Dut. and Fris. wolf = Goth. wulf-s = O.N. ulf-r] Wulf Wonreding [Wonred's Son]. —”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)