New Post
Search
Help
ArchivesDouble meaning of Alfred? Male, German
I looked up the name Alfred, and I noticed it said it was derived from Old English "aelf" elf, and "raed", counsel. So, I figured that the Germanic cognate would be "alf" and "red".
But then, I thought of something. I wondered if there was another possible etymology too. Is it possible that Alfred was derived from "adal" meaning noble, and "frid" meaning peace?
I noticed that Adalfrid was a name that was in the database, (albeit a submitted name), but I figured it contributed to the idea.
So my question is, is it possible that besides being derived from "aelf" and "raed", could Alfred have been derived also from "adal" and "frid", being a contracted form of Adalfrid? Similar to how Adalbert was contracted to Albert, and Adalfuns was contracted to Alfonso etc.
But then, I thought of something. I wondered if there was another possible etymology too. Is it possible that Alfred was derived from "adal" meaning noble, and "frid" meaning peace?
I noticed that Adalfrid was a name that was in the database, (albeit a submitted name), but I figured it contributed to the idea.
So my question is, is it possible that besides being derived from "aelf" and "raed", could Alfred have been derived also from "adal" and "frid", being a contracted form of Adalfrid? Similar to how Adalbert was contracted to Albert, and Adalfuns was contracted to Alfonso etc.
1
Replies
Yes, this is definitely possible! Ernst Förstemann (1822-1906) mentions on pages 165 and 166 of his authoritative Altdeutsches Namenbuch that Alfrid and to a lesser extent Alfred are variant forms of Athalfrid (also found in the forms Adalfrid and Adalfred):
https://archive.org/details/altdeutschesnam00seelgoog/page/n95 (in German)
A more modern German form of Alfrid is Alfried, which is rare but still has some living bearers today, such as the German archaeologist and theologian Alfried Wieczorek (b. 1954) and the Austrian psychotherapist and clinical psychologist Alfried Längle (b. 1951):
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfried_Wieczorek (in German)
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfried_L%C3%A4ngle (in German)
Another notable bearer was the German engineer and industrialist Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach (1907-1967):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfried_Krupp_von_Bohlen_und_Halbach (in English)
With that said, I think that it is only in the German-speaking world that Alfred can have the specific double meaning that you speak of, in the sense of: some German parents might have been inspired by the English name Alfred, whilst others might deliberately have chosen the German name Alfred (i.e. the rare variant of Athalfrid). In the anglophone world, it's only the English name Alfred that gets used, I think.
Oh... also check out this source that I just came across: https://www.nordicnames.de/wiki/Alfred_m (in English). Apparently the English name Alfred can have a double meaning within the anglophone world after all, in that it can be a variant of Ealdfrith ("old peace") in some cases.
1
Thanks Dorchadas! Yes, I did think that the case I was asking about was mostly in the German-speaking world, but I was also wondering if It may be derived in the anglophone world through æðel and another Anglo-Saxon element. Although I can't find one. Is there an Old English cognate of "frid"? Or did that never exist?
1
Old English certainly had a cognate for the ancient Germanic element frid! It was friþ (later spelled as frith):
https://www.behindthename.com/element/frith31
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/fri%C3%BEuz#Descendants
I see the Old English cognate of Adalfrid is even in the main database of this website already, I hadn't thought to look for that yesterday evening (as I was tired and about to go to bed). Here it is: Æðelfrið. It looks like the name was rarely used after the Norman conquest in 1066, so I guess that's why Alfred as a variant of Æðelfrið never took off (or eventually became well-known) in England. It might already have existed before then (perhaps rarely), but died off together with Æðelfrið.
https://www.behindthename.com/element/frith31
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/fri%C3%BEuz#Descendants
I see the Old English cognate of Adalfrid is even in the main database of this website already, I hadn't thought to look for that yesterday evening (as I was tired and about to go to bed). Here it is: Æðelfrið. It looks like the name was rarely used after the Norman conquest in 1066, so I guess that's why Alfred as a variant of Æðelfrið never took off (or eventually became well-known) in England. It might already have existed before then (perhaps rarely), but died off together with Æðelfrið.
1
Wow, interesting Dorchadas. Thanks!
So, if Æðelfrið started to fall out of use after the Norman conquest, is it possible that the Normans imported the Adalfrid cognate to England? Like how Hrodger was imported, replacing Hroðgar, and how Hrodebert replaced Hreodbeorht. Could the same process have brought Adalfrid to England, replacing Æðelfrið and then derived Alfred from Adalfrid in some cases later?
So, if Æðelfrið started to fall out of use after the Norman conquest, is it possible that the Normans imported the Adalfrid cognate to England? Like how Hrodger was imported, replacing Hroðgar, and how Hrodebert replaced Hreodbeorht. Could the same process have brought Adalfrid to England, replacing Æðelfrið and then derived Alfred from Adalfrid in some cases later?
1
This is technically possible, given the fact that this happened to more names than the ones that you listed as an example. I don't know whether Adalfrid or Æðelfrið is one of them, however. You would have to try to verify this yourself using scientific literature about names in medieval England (especially after the Norman conquest). If it turns out that this has not been documented, then likely this has either never happened or has simply not been researched yet.
1
Alfred in English use is almost always derived from Alfred the Great. However Alfred is a Latinised abbreviation (in coinage Ælfred). His real name was Æþelfriþ, son of Æþelwulf, and brother of Æþelræd, Æþelberht, Æþelbald, Æþelstan and Æþelswiþ, his daughters were Æþelflæd, Æþelgifu and his son Æþelweard (he had another daughter, whose name is unclear, it is recorded as Elfreda [Æþelfreoþu] and Elstrudis [Æþelþryþ?]). The Wiktionary derivation is a folk-etymology, but an early one — within two generations both Æþel- and Ælf- are recorded as the first element of names in this family, although there is confusion as to who is who, and some forms are known only from much later copies of charters or letters and may have been "corrected" later.
This message was edited 2/7/2019, 4:14 AM
1