Gender Masculine Usage Biblical, Biblical Latin Scripts Ἀλφαῖος(Ancient Greek) Pronounced Pron. /æl.ˈfiː.əs/(English) Meaning & History From Ἀλφαῖος (Alphaios), the Greek form of a Hebrew name that meant "exchange". In the New Testament this is the name of the fathers of the apostles James the Lesser and Levi.