Gender Feminine
Usage Irish
Meaning & History
From Old Irish Affraic, possibly from Afraicc, the Old Irish name of the continent of Africa (see Africa 1) [1]. Alternatively, it could be from *Aithbrecc, an unattested earlier form of Aithbhreac [2]. This was the name of two abbesses of Kildare in the 8th and 9th centuries. It was also borne by a 12th-century daughter of the king of the Isle of Mann who married the Anglo-Norman knight John de Courcy.