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Meaning & History
Old Norse name of uncertain meaning, the first element possibly from *alu "protection, fortune" or alfr "elf"; the second element, fífa means "cotton grass" and occurs in Old Icelandic poetry as a metaphor for "arrow" (a similar word, fífla, was used in 'Grettis saga' to mean "a girl"). Alternatively it may be related to the Norwegian Alfiva (a form of Ælfgifu).