| Herman | Rudolph | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Army man / soldier | famous wolf |
| Origin | germanic | germanic |
| Gender | Boy | Boy |
| Pronunciation | HUR-mun | ROO-dolf |
| Syllables | 2 | 2 |
| First appeared | 0 | 0 |
| Peak year | 1921 (3,219) | 1927 (1,690) |
| In 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Trend | Vintage | Vintage |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Herman | Rudolph |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 321 | 170 |
| 2010s | 750 | 392 |
| 2000s | 1,103 | 589 |
| 1990s | 1,957 | 1,054 |
| 1980s | 3,124 | 1,703 |
| 1970s | 4,761 | 2,186 |
| 1960s | 8,360 | 3,535 |
| 1950s | 13,832 | 6,652 |
| 1940s | 16,856 | 6,553 |
| 1930s | 20,319 | 8,200 |
| 1920s | 29,011 | 12,561 |
| 1910s | 22,598 | 6,857 |
| 1900s | 5,064 | 1,339 |
| 1890s | 4,232 | 998 |
| 1880s | 3,689 | 652 |
From Germanic 'heri' (army) and 'man' (man), giving 'man of the army, soldier'. The Latinized Arminius refers to the same Cheruscan war-leader.
From the Germanic name Hrodwulf, combining 'hrod' ('fame') and 'wulf' ('wolf'), hence 'famous wolf'. The '-olph/-olf' ending preserves the wolf element.
Herman and Rudolph are given to a similar number of US babies today.
Herman means Army man / soldier (germanic origin), while Rudolph means famous wolf (germanic origin).
In US records, Herman first appears in 0 and Rudolph in 0, so Herman has the longer recorded history.