Raoul

Meaning of Raoul

Pronounced rah-OOL in French (/ra.ul/) and RAY-ool in English (/reɪˈuːl/), Raoul derives from the Old High German Hruodolf, a fusion of hruod (“fame”) and wulf (“wolf”), which was woven into the Romance vernaculars of medieval Occitania, Catalonia and France before blossoming as Raúl in Spanish and Portuguese traditions. Its etymology evokes the image of a celebrated wolf—an archetype of sagacious leadership whose renown ripples through history like golden waves across a placid lake—imbuing the modern bearer with an implicit summons to courage, wisdom and unwavering loyalty. Linked to the chivalric courts of Normandy, the humanistic academies of the Iberian Renaissance and the humanitarian legacy of Raoul Wallenberg, the name carries both scholarly gravitas and a whisper of noble daring. Though parents should not expect spontaneous howling at the moon, its rarity in the United States—hovering just beyond the top one thousand—lends Raoul an exclusive allure and a touch of wild majesty for generations to come.