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The surname Alfred

An English patronymic surname, carried by 6,490 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈælfɹəd/ 2 syllables Soundex A416 Also a first name

Alfred: #5,364 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#1,000Archer Alfred #5,364, 6,490 people Alfred: #5,364 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez Alfred #5,364, 6,490 people
Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Alfred is more common than 96.7% of them.

Origin

English origin

From Middle English Alfred, from Old English Ælfrǣd, from ælf (“elf”) + rǣd (“counsel”). Doublet of Alfredo and Avery. Equivalent to elf + rede. The modern pronunciation with /f/ is a spelling pronunciation; the name in Old English was pronounced with [v], as shown in its Middle English descendant Alured (in which u stands for modern v).

Alfred is a patronymic surname: formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.

One of 1,446 English surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 6,490 people named Alfred in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 47,573 Americans. That is up 14% since 2000, when the Census counted 5,682.

#5,364
rank among US surnames
6,490
people in 2010
2.2
per 100,000 Americans
+14.2%
change since 2000 (was #5,601)
RankSurnamePeople1 in
#5,359Wyant6,49847,514
#5,360Melancon6,49647,529
#5,361Donnell6,49447,543
#5,364Denison6,49047,573
#5,367Giraldo6,48947,580

Who is named Alfred

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

59% of people named Alfred identified as Black (not Hispanic), 30% as white (not Hispanic) and 3.5% as Asian and Pacific Islander.

  • Black (not Hispanic) 59%
  • White (not Hispanic) 30%
  • Asian and Pacific Islander 3.5%
  • Two or more races 3.1%
  • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.9%
  • American Indian and Alaska Native 1.4%

Compare: most common surnames among Black Americans.

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Alfred

Alfred has the Soundex code A416, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code A416.

Other English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Alfred come from?
From Middle English Alfred, from Old English Ælfrǣd, from ælf (“elf”) + rǣd (“counsel”). Doublet of Alfredo and Avery. Equivalent to elf + rede. The modern pronunciation with /f/ is a spelling pronunciation; the name in Old English was pronounced with [v], as shown in its Middle English descendant…
How common is the surname Alfred?
6,490 people in the United States had the surname Alfred in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 47,573 Americans. It ranked 5,364th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Alfred?
In the 2010 Census, 59% of people named Alfred identified as Black (not Hispanic), and 30% as white (not Hispanic).
How do you pronounce Alfred?
Alfred is /ˈælfɹəd/, 2 syllables.
What type of surname is Alfred?
Alfred is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
Is the surname Alfred getting more or less common?
More common. 5,682 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 6,490 in 2010, up 14%.
Is Alfred also a first name?
Yes. Alfred is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.