Name meaning & stats
Olaf
Olaf. 1,084 US babies since 1940, peak 1964. Notable Olafs are 2.9× over-represented as doctors.
What it means
No agreed meaning on record
In US birth records
Peak year: 1964
1,084 US babies were named Olaf between 1940 and 2025.
Olaf around the world
- Norway: 1,817 babies since 1945, peak 1946, No. 274 in 2025
- England & Wales: 764 babies since 1996, peak 2015, No. 2,437 in 2025
- France: 170 babies since 1900, peak 2025, No. 2,933 in 2025
- Ireland: 143 babies since 1964, peak 2010
- Belgium: 135 babies since 1995, peak 2014
- Scotland: 65 babies since 1974, peak 2014
- Sweden: 30 babies since 1998, peak 2019
From official birth registries. Sources are listed on About the data.
Where Olafs end up
| Career | vs expected | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Professor | 1.6× | High · 66 people |
| Politician | 0.7× | High · 52 people |
| Doctor | 2.9× | High · 40 people |
| Footballer | 0.5× | High · 36 people |
Among notable men who are doctors, Olafs show up 2.9× as often as you'd expect from how common the name is.
Notable people of every nationality born 1940–2005 (Wikidata). Patterns, not destiny.
One more thing…
Olafs are 2.3× more likely than expected to be physicists.
The surprise career: Medium confidence · 22 notable people.
Name twins (peaked around 1964)