is a German surname and a Low German (Plattdüütsch) masculine given name.
The name Oelfke, name of farmers from the "Hohe Heidmark" of the administrative district Heidekreis in Lower-Saxony, Germany traces back to Ol, Oel=Adel (nobility), Od=Besitz (property), like Oleff, Oloff, Odulleib, that's the one who has the life in sense of "being inheritor", simply expressed that's the one who owns the inheritance of farmer. The farm's name "Oelfkenhof" in Oerbke is already traced to the "Celler Schatzregister" of 1438.
A descendant of the Oelfke family immigrated to the area of Hamburg, Minnesota where thousands of his descendants now live.