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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