Olaf: Difference between revisions – Wikipedia

Olaf or Olav (, , or British ; Old Norse: Áleifr, Ólafr, Óleifr, Anleifr) is a Dutch, Polish, Scandinavian and German given name. It is presumably of Proto-Norse origin, reconstructed as *Anu-laibaz, from anu “ancestor, grand-father” and laibaz “heirloom, descendant”.
Old English forms are attested as Ǣlāf, Anlāf. The corresponding Old Novgorod dialect form is Uleb. A later English form of the name is Olave.

In the Norwegian language, Olav and Olaf are equally common, but Olav is traditionally used when referring to Norwegian royalty. The Swedish form is Olov or Olof, and the Danish form is Oluf. It was borrowed into Old Irish and Scottish Gaelic with the spellings Amlaíb and Amhlaoibh, giving rise to modern version Aulay.
The name is Latinized as Olaus.

Not all the following were strictly Norse-Gaels, but they share the most common Norse-Gaelic names.

• Olaf I of Mann, also called Olaf Godredsson (c. 1080–1153)
• Olaf II the Black, also called Olaf Godredsson (1173/4–1237), King of Mann and the Isles 1229–1237

• Olav V of Norway, king 1957–1991
• Olaf Amundsen (1876–1939), Norwegian lawyer and politician
• Olaf Fink (1914–1973), American educator and state senator
• Olaf Gorter (born 2005), Dutch footballer
• Olaf Lubaszenko, Polish actor
• Olaf Pooley (1914–2015), English actor
• Count Oluf of Rosenborg (1923–1990)
• Olaf Scholz (born 1958), German politician and Chancellor of Germany (2021–2025)
• Olaf C. Seltzer (1877–1957), Danish-born American painter
• Olaf Stapledon (1886–1950), British author and historian
• Oluf van Steenwinckel (died 1659), Danish building master and engineer

• Erwin Olaf (Erwin Olaf Springveld), Dutch photographer

• Count Olaf, the main antagonist in the series of novels A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
• Olaf, in Jungle Jam and Friends: The Radio Show!
• Olaf (Frozen), a living snowman in the 2013 film Frozen
• Olaf, the Berserker, in the multiplayer online battle arena video game League of Legends
• Olaf “the Stout”, in the video game series The Lost Vikings
• Olaf the Troll, in the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• Olaf, one of Snoopy’s siblings in Peanuts
• Olaf Potato, an anthropomorphic potato in the British animated short series Small Potatoes
• Olaf the Smug Anteater, from Animal Crossing: New Leaf
• Olaf the Lofty, an inventor from Noggin the Nog
• Agent Olaf, from Odd Squad
• Olaf (Agent Otto Jefferies), from the Anita Blake series
• Olaf One-Eye, ancient High King of Skyrim from the video game series The Elder Scrolls
• Olaf, a CO in Advance Wars

• Nils Olav, a succession of penguins at Edinburgh Zoo, officers in the Norwegian King’s Guard