Heraldry and the Alfred Surname

Heraldry is personal. Arms recorded for an Alfred family belonged to that family, and other bearers of the name may have no link to them.

What Alfred means

The Alfred last name has English roots. Smith's 1956 dictionary gives the meaning “descendant of Alfred (elf, counsel)”.

It is a patronymic: it named a person after a father or forebear. Related forms include Alfredson. Alfred ranked 5,364 in the 2010 US Census, with 6,490 people answering to the name. It sits within the 10,000 most common last names in the country. INSEE counts 1,106 people born in France with the Alfred surname between 1891 and 2000; the busiest decade was 1981–1990.

Get the complete Alfred report, with a museum-style coat of arms.