The name came to prominence with Adalind Schade, a main character on the television show "Grim" (2011-2017).
Alberich is a sorcerer dwarf who guards the treasure of the Nibelungen in the medieval German epic the Nibelungenlied. The dwarf also appears in Ortnit as a helper to the hero.
As an English name it has been in use since the Middle Ages, originally in the form Clare, though the Latinate spelling Clara overtook it in the 19th century and became very popular. It declined through most of the 20th century (being eclipsed by the French form Claire in English-speaking countries), though it has since recovered somewhat.
In German and Yiddish, the name has also been encountered as a diminutive of names that contain the Germanic element frid meaning "peace". In those cases, the name is basically a German and Yiddish variant of Friedl. It should be noted, though, that it appears that the name is strictly feminine in Yiddish.
Known German bearers of this name include the former soccer player Friedel Rausch (b. 1940), the luger Friedel Tietze (born after 1908, died after 1953) and Frieda "Friedel" Adler Bergman (1884-1918), the mother of the Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman (1915-1982). In the Netherlands, a known bearer of this name is the singer Roxeanne Hazes (b. 1993), a daughter of the popular singer André Hazes (1951-2004). She carries the name as a middle name, which was given to her in honor of her maternal grandmother Friedel van Galen-Mak (c. 1946-2009).
A known bearer of the name is the German photographer Herlinde Koelbl who portrayed several influential German politicians for her project Spuren der Macht.
This was the name of a granddaughter of Kaiser Wilhelm II by his son, Oskar: Princess Herzeleide Ina Marie Sophie Charlotte Else (1918-1989), named "heart's sorrow" because she was born shortly after the fall of the German Empire and collapse of the monarchy.
It is the name of the mermaid Rauch Else in the Wolfdietrich epic after being transformed to a beautiful women.
Her name is a contracted form of Sigmilde, which is derived from Middle High German sige "victory" and milte "grace; clemency; kindness; endearment; tenderness; love".