Alfred is a masculine
given name
A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a f ...
of
English origin, a modern descendant of the
Anglo-Saxon name Ælfræd (), formed from the Germanic words ', meaning "
elf
An elf (: elves) is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic peoples, Germanic folklore. Elves appear especially in Norse mythology, North Germanic mythology, being mentioned in the Icelandic ''Poetic Edda'' and the ''Prose Edda'' ...
", and ', meaning "
counsel".
Its feminine form originating from
Romance languages is Alfreda, and diminutives of Alfred include Al, Alf, Alfy, Alfie, Fred, and Freddy. After the
11th-century Norman Conquest, many variants of the name emerged, most of which were not carried to the modern day.
Today, Alfred is still in regular usage in a number of different regions, especially
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
,
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
,
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...
, and
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
. It is one of the few Old English names that came into common use in Europe.
Its name day is the 3rd of January both in Norway and Sweden.
Given name
Royalty and politicians
*
Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great ( ; – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who both died when Alfr ...
(848/849–899), 9th-century king of Wessex
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Alfred Ætheling ( 1012–1036), son of King Ethelred II of England
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Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1844–1900), second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
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Alfred, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1874–1899), grandson of Queen Victoria and son of Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
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Alfred Balch (1785–1853), American businessman, lawyer, political advisor, and judge
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Alfred Bansard des Bois (1848–1920), French politician
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Alfred Winsor Brown (1885–1938), governor of Guam
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Alfred Budge (1868–1951), justice of the Idaho Supreme Court
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Alfred Burvill (fl. 1920s), Australian politician
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Alfred Deakin
Alfred Deakin (3 August 1856 – 7 October 1919) was an Australian politician who served as the second Prime Minister of Australia, prime minister of Australia from 1903 to 1904, 1905 to 1908, and 1909 to 1910. He held office as the leader of th ...
(1856–1919), 2nd prime minister of Australia
*
Alfred Joseph Richard de Soysa (1869–1939), Sri Lankan Sinhala landowner and member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon
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Alfred Dregger (1920–2002), German politician
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Alfred Gusenbauer (born 1960), Austrian politician
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Alfred Josoa (born 1943), Malagasy politician
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Alfred Käärmann (1922–2010), Estonian freedom fighter
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Alfred John King (1859–1920), British politician
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Alfred Kollie (1951–2020), Liberian politician
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Alfred A. Lama (1899–1984), Italian-American architect and politician
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Alf Landon (1887–1987), American politician
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Alfred Lecerf (1948–2019), Belgian politician
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Alfred Lerandeau (born 1939), American politician
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Alfred Mtsi (1950/1951–2020), South African politician
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Alfred Mpontshane (born 1952), South African politician
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Al Smith
Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was the 42nd governor of New York, serving from 1919 to 1920 and again from 1923 to 1928. He was the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party's presidential nominee in the 1 ...
(1873–1944), American statesman
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Alfred Solstad (1884–1973), American farmer and politician
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Alfred von Schlieffen (1833–1913), German field marshal and strategist
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Alfred Thambiayah (1903–unknown), Sri Lankan Tamil businessman and member of parliament
Writers and philosophers
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Alfred Bester (1913–1987), American science fiction author
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Alfred de Musset (1810–1857), French romantic poet and playwright
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Alfred de Vigny (1797–1863), French romantic poet
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Alfred Jarry (1873–1907), French writer and founder of 'pataphysics
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Alfred Daniel Williams King (1930–1969), American minister and civil rights activist
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Alfred Richard Orage (1873–1934), British teacher, writer, editor, publisher
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Alfred Rosenberg (1893–1946), German Nazi theorist
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Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892), British poet
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Alfred North Whitehead
Alfred North Whitehead (15 February 1861 – 30 December 1947) was an English mathematician and philosopher. He created the philosophical school known as process philosophy, which has been applied in a wide variety of disciplines, inclu ...
(1861–1947), English analytic philosopher and mathematician, co-author of ''Principia Mathematica''
Athletes
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Alfred Aboya (born 1985), Cameroonian basketball player
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Alfred Bloch (1877–?), French Olympic footballer
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Alfred Butch Lee (born 1956), retired Puerto Rican basketball player
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Alfred Eissler (1896–1954), American football player
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Alfred Albert Joe de Re la Gardiur (1881–1941), Luxembourgish-American wrestler
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Alfred Guth (1908–1996), Austrian-born American water polo player, swimmer, and Olympic modern pentathlete
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Alf King (born 1941), Australian former footballer
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Alfred Kipketer (born 1996), Kenyan middle-distance runner and 2013 world youth champion
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Alfred Kivisaar (1953–2021), Estonian badminton player
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Alfred König (1913–1987), Austrian-Turkish Olympic sprinter
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Alfred Kuchevsky (1931–2000), Soviet professional ice hockey player
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Alfred McCullough (born 1989), American football player
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Alfred Morris (born 1988), American football player
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Alfred Neuland (1895–1966), Estonian weightlifter
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Alfred Puusaag (1897–1951), Estonian weightlifter
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Alf Ramsey (1920–1999), English football manager
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Alfred Schmidt (1898–1972), Estonian weightlifter
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Alfred Skrobisch (1913–1991), American fencer
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Alfred Stöhrmann (1882–1914), German football player
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Alfred Tetteh (born 1975), Ghanaian boxer
Businessmen
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Alfred O. Deshong (1837–1913), American businessman, philanthropist and art collector
* Alfred Fielding, inventor of
Bubble Wrap
*
Alfred Ford (born 1950), heir to the Ford family fortune
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Alfred S. Hart (1904–1979), American businessman and banker
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Alfred Hurst (1846–1912), English-born American politician and businessman
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Alfred Herrhausen (1930–1989), German banker
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Alfred Lindon (–1948), businessman and art collector
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Alfred Lion (1908–1987), American record executive
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Alfred Peet (1920-2007), Dutch-American founder of Peet's Coffee
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Alfred Pisani (born 1939), Maltese businessman and hotelier
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Alfred Douglas Price (1860–1921), African American businessperson and community leader
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Alfred Sung (born 1948), Canadian fashion designer and businessman
Artists and entertainers
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Alfred Biolek (1934–2021), German entertainer and television producer
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Alfred Buckham (1879–1956), British photographer
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Alfred Gerald Caplin (1909–1979), American cartoonist and humorist better known as "Al Capp"
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Alfred Deller (1912–1979), English singer
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Alfred Eisenstaedt (1898–1995), German-born American photographer and photojournalist
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Alfred Edirimanne (1929–2000), Sri Lankan Sinhala cinema actor and politician
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Alfred Enoch
Alfred Lewis Enoch (born 2 December 1988) is a British and Brazilian actor. He is best known for playing Dean Thomas (Harry Potter), Dean Thomas in the fantasy film series Harry Potter (film series), ''Harry Potter'' and List of How to Get Away ...
(born 1988), British actor
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Alfred Hill, English comedian better known as "Benny Hill"
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Alfred Hirv (1880–1918), Estonian painter
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Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...
(1899–1980), English film director
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Alfred Koerppen (1926–2022), German organist, composer, and teacher
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Alfred Leslie (1927–2023), American artist and filmmaker
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Alfred Lipka (1931–2010), German violist
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Alfred Molina (born 1953), British actor
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Alfred Momotenko Levitsky (born 1970), Russian-Dutch composer
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Alfred Rasser (1907–1977), Swiss comedian, radio personality, and actor
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Alfred Ryder (1916–1995), American film, radio, and television actor
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Alfred Schnittke (1934–1998), German-Soviet composer
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Alfred Stieglitz (1864–1946), American photographer and modern art promoter
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Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic (born 1959), American parody–comedy musician
Military people
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Alfred Dreyfus (1859–1935), French Jewish artillery officer wrongly accused of treason
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Alfred Jodl
Alfred Josef Ferdinand Jodl (; born Alfred Josef Baumgärtler; 10 May 1890 – 16 October 1946) was a German Wehrmacht Heer, Army ''Generaloberst'' (the rank was equal to a four-star full general) and War crime, war criminal, who served as th ...
(1890–1946), German Wehrmacht general who was executed following the Nuremberg trials
*
Alfred Thayer Mahan (1840–1914), American naval strategist and historian
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Alfred C. Markley (1843–1926), American brigadier general
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Alfred K. Newman (1924–2019), United States Marine and Navajo code talker
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Alfred Saalwächter (1883–1945), German naval officer executed for war crimes
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Alfred Sully (1820–1879), U.S. Army Colonel and Union Army Brevet Brigadier General
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Alfred Trzebinski
Alfred Trzebinski (29 August 1902 – 8 October 1946) was an Schutzstaffel, SS-physician at the Auschwitz concentration camp, Auschwitz, Majdanek and Neuengamme concentration camp, Neuengamme concentration camps in Nazi Germany. He was sentenced t ...
(1902–1946), German SS physician at several Nazi concentration camps executed for war crimes
*
Alfred Zeidler (born 1902, date of death unknown), German SS concentration camp commandant
Scientists
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Alfred L. Elwyn (1804–1884), American physician and pioneer in the training and care of mentally disabled people
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Alfred Douglas Hardy (1870–1958), Australian botanist
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Alfred Hoche (1865–1943), German psychiatrist, eugenicist, used pseudonym Alred Erich for poetry publication
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Alfred Kinsey (1894–1956), American entomologist, zoologist, and human sexuality researcher
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Alfred Marshall (1842–1924), English economist
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Alfred Newton
Alfred Newton Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS HFRSE (11 June 18297 June 1907) was an England, English zoologist and ornithologist. Newton was Professor of Comparative Anatomy at Cambridge University from 1866 to 1907. Among his numerous public ...
(1829–1907), English zoologist and ornithologist
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Alfred Nobel (1833–1896), Swedish chemist and engineer
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Alfred Ploetz (1860–1940), German physician, biologist, Social Darwinist, and eugenicist
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Alfred Stillé (1813–1900), American physician
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Alfred Wilhelm Volkmann (1801–1877), German physiologist, anatomist, and philosopher
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Alfred Russel Wallace (1823–1913), British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist, and biologist
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Alfred Wegener (1880–1930), German earth and weather scientist
Fictional characters
* Alfred, alchemist and playable character in ''
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon''
* Alfred, Sartan character from the novel ''
Dragon Wing'' and other books of ''The Death Gate Cycle''
*
Alfred, nickname of the nature spirit Demonreach, a minor character in ''The Dresden Files''
* Alfred, character in the video game series ''
Fatal Fury
''Fatal Fury'', known as in Japan, is a fighting game series developed by SNK, first released on the Neo Geo system.
Gameplay
The original ''Fatal Fury'' is known for the two-plane system. Characters fight from two different planes. By step ...
''
* Alfred, a playable character in the video game ''
Fire Emblem Engage''
* Alfred the Hot Water Bottle, from Australian children's television series ''
Johnson and Friends''
* Alfred, major character, a penguin, in the Franco-Belgian comic strip '
* Alfred Alembick, character from ''
King Ottokar's Sceptre''
* Alfred Doolittle, father of Eliza Doolittle in ''
Pygmalion'' and ''
My Fair Lady''
*
Alfred Garnett, lead character in the British sitcom ''Till Death Us Do Part'' (1965–1975)
*
Alfred Hedgehog, main character of the French-Canadian animated TV series ''The Mysteries of Alfred Hedgehog''
* Alfred F. Jones, personification of the United States of America and leader of the Allied Powers in the anime ''
Hetalia'' by Hidekaz Himaruya
*
Alfred J. Kwak, main character of the eponymous Dutch-Japanese anime television series
*
Alfred E. Neuman, mascot and iconic cover boy of ''Mad'' magazine
*
Alfred Pennyworth, butler to DC Comics superhero Batman
* Alfred Tezlaff, lead character in the German sitcom ''
Ein Herz und eine Seele'' (1973–1976), based on Alfred Garnett
* Alfred, a localized name for Kazuma Kuwabara (see
list of ''YuYu Hakusho'' characters), in the Tagalog dub of ''YuYu Hakusho'' (known in the Philippines as ''Ghost Fighter'')
Other
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Alfred of Sareshel (12th–13th century), English translator
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Alfred of Sherborne (10th century), English bishop
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Alfred Francis (before 1909 – after 1919), Welsh rugby player
*Sir Alfred Mehran (1946–2022), birth name
Mehran Karimi Nasseri, Iranian refugee
*
Alfred Packer (1842–1907), American cannibal
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Alfred Westou, (11th century), English priest and relic collector
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Alfred Worden (1932–2020), American astronaut, business executive, and author
Surname
*
Mike Alfred, a South African poet
See also
*
Alfredo
Alfredo (, ) is a cognate of the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon name Alfred (name), Alfred and a common Italian language, Italian, Galician language, Galician, Portuguese language, Portuguese and Spanish language personal name.
Given name
Artists a ...
References
{{Reflist
Old English given names
English masculine given names
Masculine given names
French masculine given names
German masculine given names
Dutch masculine given names
Estonian masculine given names
Faroese masculine given names
Scandinavian masculine given names
Swedish masculine given names
Danish masculine given names
Norwegian masculine given names
cs:Alfréd
es:Alfredo (nombre)
eo:Alfredo
fr:Alfréd
gl:Alfredo
it:Alfredo
la:Alfredus
hu:Alfréd
ja:アルフレッド
scn:Arfredu (nomu)
sk:Alfréd