Wolff
A common surname from the word for “wolf,” sometimes a nickname or an old personal name, and in some families a later continental import.
The #1,650 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 14,153 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Wolff is primarily a surname built on the word for the animal wolf, which could function as a nickname for a fierce or wolf-like person or as a name derived from an old personal name based on the same element. In English records, forms like Wolf and Woolf were used in more than one way, including as a personal name. The double-f spelling is also common in German and other Continental traditions, which likely explains many later bearers of the name.
History
English surname writers noted that some Wolff families are simply spelling variants of Wolf/Woolf, while others are of comparatively recent Continental origin. The name is also found in Scandinavian and Germanic naming traditions through older personal names built on wolf elements. In modern English-speaking countries, both native and immigrant lines may be represented under this spelling.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Nineteenth- and early twentieth-century surname scholars explicitly warned that not every Wolff family had the same origin: some were old English, while others were imported later from the Continent.
From the historical record
“WOLFERSTON(E | ^- Wolver.ston(e. WOLFF : V. Wolf(e. But most of the Wolffs in our directories are of recent Continental origin. WOLFHUNT (Eng.) WoLF - Hunter [O.E. wulf -|- hunta, hunter] Richard le Wnllhunt.— /fwwrf. Rolls. WOLFNOTH (Eng.) the common A.-Sax. pers. name Wulfno^ = Wolf-Boldness [O.E.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)