Woolf

Alternate spellings include Wolfe, Wolff, Wulf and Wolf.

Woolf is a name that is used as a surname, given name, and a name among Germanic-speaking peoples: see Wolf, Wulf. This name is particularly popular in England especially in the south due to strong Saxon influence: see Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain. Historians on Anglo Saxon Britain such as Barbara Yorke, have commented that the Woolf name originated from Oswelf the 'Wolf', who was a famous Saxon lord who in legend fought King Horsa. He supposedly changed his name to 'Woolf' from the more Germanic spelling of Wolf. This is the first recording of the Woolf name, although according to Yorke it is most likely that other Saxon families changed their name to this translation.