Alferd
Old English compound name meaning "elf counsel" or "counselor of elves".
Name Census estimates that about 321 living Americans carry the first name Alferd. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Alferd today is around 74 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Alferd births was 1930 (30 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Alferd. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Alferd is about 74 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Alferds were born before 1962.
People living today
321
~ 1 in 1,067,771 Americans
Peak year
1930
30 babies that year
Average age
74
years old
1976 SSA rank
#4,950
Tracked since 1891
Census
Alferd in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 229 people with the first name Alferd, which placed it at #35,223 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#35,223
National first-name rank
People counted
229
229 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
48.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Alferd
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alferd is White at 48.5%. The next largest groups are Black (29.3%) and Hispanic (14.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Alferd described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Alferd at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White48.5% · 111
- Black or African American29.3% · 67
- Hispanic or Latino14.8% · 34
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.9% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 4
- Two or more races1.7% · 4
Popularity
Alferd: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Alferd from the 1890s through to the 1970s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 223 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Alferd by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Alferd during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Alferds live
Origin
Meaning and history of Alferd
The name Alferd has its origins in the Old English language, derived from the combination of the elements "ælf" meaning "elf" and "ræd" meaning "counsel" or "advice." It is believed to have emerged during the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain, around the 5th to 11th centuries CE.
The name Alferd was initially popular among the Anglo-Saxons and was later adopted by the Normans after their conquest of England in 1066. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landholdings and population conducted in 1086 under the order of William the Conqueror.
During the Middle Ages, the name Alferd gained prominence and was borne by several notable figures. One such figure was Alferd of Beverley, a renowned scholar and theologian who lived in the 8th century. He is known for his contributions to the field of education and his efforts in establishing schools and libraries.
Another significant bearer of the name was Alferd the Great, the King of Wessex from 871 to 899 CE. He is celebrated for his military victories against the Danish invaders, his promotion of education, and his legal reforms. Alferd the Great is regarded as one of the most influential monarchs in English history.
In the 12th century, Alferd of Rievaulx, an English Cistercian monk and writer, gained recognition for his theological works and his contributions to the monastic tradition. He is particularly known for his treatise "De Institutione Inclusarum" (On the Formation of Recluses).
During the Renaissance period, Alferd of Sereshel, an Italian humanist scholar and philosopher, made significant contributions to the study of logic and metaphysics. He is remembered for his works on Aristotelian philosophy and his commentaries on various classical texts.
In the modern era, one of the most notable bearers of the name was Alferd Nobel, the Swedish chemist, engineer, and inventor who established the Nobel Prizes. Born in 1833, Alferd Nobel is renowned for his innovations in the field of explosives and his dedication to promoting scientific progress and humanitarian causes.
While the name Alferd has waned in popularity over time, it remains a part of the historical record, carrying the weight of its rich linguistic heritage and the remarkable individuals who have borne this name throughout the centuries.
People
Alferd + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Alferd as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Alferd: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Alferd?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 321 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Alferd going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,067,771 US residents.
Is Alferd a common name?
We classify Alferd as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 957 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Alferd most popular?
The single biggest year for Alferd was 1930, when 30 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Alferd is about 74 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Alferd in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 229 people with the name Alferd, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,223 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Alferd in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Alferd?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Alferd leans strongly male. 229 people counted with this name were male (98.7%), compared with 3 female bearers (1.3%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Alferd?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alferd is White at 48.5%. The next largest groups are Black (29.3%) and Hispanic (14.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Alferd most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Alferd in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.5% (111 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Alferd in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Alferd a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Alferd in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Alferd still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Alferd in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Alferd can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Alferd?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.