Alfred

Meaning: Elf counsel
Origin: Old English

Nicknames: Allie, Ally, Alf, Alfie

Boy's name · #840 in the US (2025) · Vintage

Popularity over time

Alfred is an heirloom: its strongest era came around 1882, when it ranked #32. It has thinned since but never left the records — about 244,000 boys since 1880, ranked #840 today. In all that time it has never once missed a year of the national records.

Across the states

See where Alfred is more common.

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 25 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Around the world

Alfred is especially popular in Denmark, Sweden, and Finland (Swedish-sp.).

#3 in Denmark (2025) · #5 in Sweden (2025) · #8 in Finland (Swedish-sp.) (2025) · #26 in Norway (2025) · #76 in England & Wales (2025) · #95 in Australia (QLD) (2025) · #99 in New Zealand (2025) · #226 in Scotland (2025) · #287 in Ireland (2025) · #345 in N. Ireland (2025) · #357 in Poland (2025) · #375 in Austria (2025) and 5 more.

Famous Alfreds

Alfred Nobel — Swedish chemist and inventor (1833–1896)
Alfred Hitchcock — British filmmaker (1899–1980)
Alfred Tennyson — British Poet Laureate (1809–1892)
Alfred Adler — Austrian psychotherapist (1870–1937)
Alfred Russel Wallace — British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist (1823–1913)

In stories & tradition

Alfred Pennyworth — Gotham (TV series)
Alfred E. Neuman — Mad
Alfred Bester — Babylon 5 (TV series)

What Alfreds become

Among 10,777 notable people named Alfred:

Business leaders appear 1.95× more often than among typical names — e.g. Alfred P. Sloan, American businessman (1875–1966).

Spellings & nicknames

About 630 girls a year are given Allie as their full name, 120 Ally, and 64 boys Alfie.

Similar names: Alfie · Harry · Albert · Ernest · Fred · Harold

Browse more boy names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

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