Wulf - History of Word

History of Word

Today, the exact meaning of the word "Wulf" is unclear but in Medieval times it was common practice to assign the names of birds, animals or fish to people in order to identify them. The initial bearer of the name would be noted for their qualities of strength and power, hence their name was associated with an animal with similar qualities. The word "wulf" is known to originate from the Vikings which is evident through the geographical locations of Viking settlements being near known wolf habitats. Once "Wulf" was established as the name of the animal, it was most likely used to name people with similar attributes with that of the animal. Surname variants of the word "wulf" then occurred such as Wolf, Wolff, Wülf (f), and Wulff with the latter and Wulf representing the oldest forms of the word. Other different surnames occurred such as the German surname 'Wulfkrieger' which when translated means warrior with the attributes of a wolf (animal). Although spellings with the 'u' are more common in modern German, etymology implies that the 'u' spelling has Icelandic (North Germanic) roots, whereas the 'o' spelling has English and German (West Germanic) roots.

Early instances of this name in Germany include one Tyle Wulf who lived in Treuenbrietzen in the year 1375 (Archiv for Sippenforschung und alle verwandten Gebiete) and one Nivelung Wolf who was a citizen of Cologne in 1135 (Kolner Schreinsurkunden). A notable bearer of this type of surname is Max Franz Joseph Cornelius Wolf (1863–1932), a German astronomer who introduced astronomical photography and discovered Wolf's Comet. Another is the philosopher Christian Wolff (1679-1754), the most eminent German philosopher between Leibniz and Kant.