Ralph
About Ralph
Ralph has two diametrically different images: there's the suave Ralph Fiennes-type Brit (often pronounced Rafe), and then there's the Jackie Gleason blue-collar, bowling blowhard Ralph Kramden bus driver. It's all in the eye of the beholder, though its hip factor did rise when it was chosen for his son by cool U.K. actor Matthew Macfadyen.
Ralph is a name that's been around for a thousand years, was in the Top 30 from the 1870s to the 1920s, and just could make a comeback. It's already in the UK Top 100.
Ralph has a number of notable namesakes, from Ralph Waldo Emerson to Ralph Abernathy to Ralph Lauren. In literature, Ralph is a Shakespearean name, appearing in Henry IV, is a pivotal figure in Henry James's The Portrait of a Lady and Ralph was one of the three main boys in Lord of the Flies. And let's not forget Ralphie in A Christmas Story.
Or you might prefer the French version--Raoul.
Pronounced RALF; RAYF.
As of October 2026, Ralph ranked #1048 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #21 in 1917, Nameberry popularity #369.
Editor's take: The name Ralph is a boy's name of English origin meaning "wolf-counsel".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #1,042 | 193 | 100.5 |
| 2015 | #1,067 | 186 | 97 |
| 2016 | #996 | 205 | 108 |
| 2017 | #1,070 | 185 | 99.9 |
| 2018 | #950 | 219 | 120.6 |
| 2019 | #1,025 | 203 | 113.1 |
| 2020 | #1,101 | 180 | 104.3 |
| 2021 | #1,110 | 186 | 106.3 |
| 2022 | #1,142 | 183 | 104.8 |
| 2023 | #1,196 | 168 | 98.2 |
| 2024 | #1,152 | 182 | 105.6 |
| 2025 | #1,048 | 211 | 123.5 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Ralph.
- Bernard
- Harold
- Gilbert
- Chester
- Wallace
- Stanley
- Walter
- Ernest
- Alfred
- Sidney
- Clifford
- Wilfred
- Albert
- Clarence
- Edgar
- Clyde
- Eugene
- Rupert
- Angus
- Rufus
Ralph on lists
Famous Ralphs
- Ralph George Macchio
American actor
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
American author
- Ralph Lauren
American fashion designer
- Ralph David Richardson
English actor
- Ralph Nathaniel Twistleton Wykeham Fiennes
English actor
- Ralph Nader
American consumer advocate and politician
- Ralph David Abernathy
American civil rights leader
- Ralph Edmund Stanley
American bluegrass musician
- Ralph Vaughan Williams
English composer
- Ralph Bakshi
American film director
- Ralph Macfadyen
son of actor Matthew Macfadyen
- Ralph H. Fowler
British physicist and astronomer
- Ralph Waite
American actor
- Ralph Wright
American animator and writer
- (William Henry) Ralph Reader
British actor and Gang Show founder
- Ralph Johnson Bunche
American political scientist, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize
- Ralph Marvin Steinman
Canadian immunologist, winner of the Nobel Prize
- Ralph Neville
Bishop of Chichester and Lord Chancellor of England
- Ralph George Houk
American baseball player and manager
- Ralph Allen Garr
American baseball player
- Ralph Moody Hall
U.S. Congressman from Texas
- Ralph Abercromby
Scottish general and politician
- Ralph Adams Cram
American architect
- Ralph Gerald Backstrom
Canadian ice hockey player
- Ralph Rexford Bellamy
American actor
- Ralph Blane (born Ralph Uriah Hunsecker)
American songwriter
- Ralph Theodore Joseph Branca
American baseball player
- Ralph William John Brown
English actor
- Ralph Jose P. Burns
American songwriter and bandleader
- Ralph Byrd
American actor
- Ralph Cudworth
English Platonist philosopher
- Ralph Horween
American NFL football player
- Ralph Phillip Klein
Canadian politician, 12th Premier of Alberta
- Ralph Neville
1st Earl of Westmorland, 4th Baron Neville de Raby
- Ralph George Algernon Percy
12th Duke of Northumberland
- Vincent Ralph Pagano (b. 2015)
son of Ralph Pagano
- Ralph Shearer Northam
73rd Governor of Virginia
Ralph in pop culture
- Ralph Kramden
main character on TV's "The Honeymooners"
- Ralph Wiggum
character on TV's "The Simpsons"
- Ralph
character in William Golding's "Lord of the Flies"
- "Wreck
It Ralph," 2012 Disney movie and main character
- Ralph "Ralphie" Parker
main character in movie "A Christmas Story"
- Ralph Rover
main character in "Coral Island" (1858) by R. M. Ballantyne
- Ralph Jones
main character in 1991 movie "King Ralph"
- Ralph Dineen
boy genius on TV's "Scorpion"
- "Ralph 124C 41+
" science fiction novel by Hugo Gernsback
- Ralph Theodore Guard
character on animated series "Animaniacs"
- Ralph
giant wolf monster in the video game "Rampage"
- Rotten Ralph
children's book series by Jack Gantos
- Ralph
mouse in "The Mouse and the Motorcycle" by Beverly Cleary
- Ralph E. Wolf
character in Warner Bros. cartoons
- Ralph
character in comic strip "Drabble" by Kevin Fagan
- Ralph Smith
character in G. A. Henty's, St. George for England
- Ralph
character in comic strip "Sally Forth" by Francesco Marciuliano
- Ralph Drang
character on TV's "Dear John"
- Ralph Percy
main character in Mary Johnston's "To Have and to Hold"
- Ralph Harcourt
character in G. A. Henty's "A Knight of the White Cross"
- Randolph "Ralph" Dibny
AKA Elongated Man, DC Comics superhero and character on TV's "The Flash"
- Ralph Furley
aka Mr. Furley , character in the TV series "Three's Company"