The Wolff surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 21,815 people carried this name — #1,650 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 13,500 people counted. That is up 2% from 21,321 in 2000.
What the name means
The meaning of the Wolff surname
A surname transferred from the given name or nickname, a spelling variant of Wolf.
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Wolff» (German), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 4,258 people named Wolff.
214 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 85 départements, most often Bas-Rhin.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Poland’s population register
901 people named Wolff have a registered home in Poland.
Of the 1,111 in Poland’s national register, these are the ones with a permanent address on file. They live in all 16 of Poland’s voivodeships, most of all in Pomeranian.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
PESEL register, Ministry of Digital Affairs of Poland (dane.gov.pl) — CC0 · living people by voivodeship of permanent residence, 20 January 2026.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
606 people named Wolff live in Switzerland.
They live in 20 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In Argentina’s national register
At least 483 people named Wolff live in Argentina.
RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Buenos Aires Province.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In Belgium’s population register
At least 287 people named Wolff live in Belgium.
Statbel only publishes a name in a municipality when five or more people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Liège.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Statbel (Statistics Belgium), family names of the population by municipality, 1 January 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In the Nordic population registers
839 people named Wolff are counted in Sweden, Norway and Finland.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published. Norway publishes only surnames with 200 or more bearers. Finland counts its citizens, at home or abroad.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown) · Statistics Norway (SSB, ssb.no), table 12891, 2025 — CC BY 4.0 · Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV), Finland, surname statistics, August 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In print
Wolff in American newspapers,
1878–1920.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 216,321 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Wolff,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Christian Wolff 1679–1754 · mathematician -
Jacob Gabriel Wolf 1684–1754 · jurist -
Caspar Friedrich Wolff 1734–1794 · physician -
Johann Gottlieb von Wolff 1756–1817 · Landrat -
Oskar Ludwig Bernhard Wolff 1799–1851 · writer
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 176 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Wolff.
- Wojtkowiak 291 · U.S. census
- Wojtowicz 2,349 · U.S. census
- Wolf 70,031 · U.S. census
- Wolfarth 274 · U.S. census
- Wolfer 1,390 · U.S. census
- Wolfersberger 188 · U.S. census
- Wolfs 121 · U.S. census
- Woll 1,493 · U.S. census
- Wolle 348 · U.S. census
- Wolny 321 · U.S. census
- Woloszyn 798 · U.S. census
- Wolski 1,965 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Wolff is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.