A name. A world of connections.

Alf

“elf”

masculineLatin script

Hear the name

Origin: Old Norse
9 language contexts: English French German +6 more
Follow the evidence: 9 cited sources Source-reported

01 / Meaning & origin

About Alf

Alf is a masculine given name documented in English, French, German and 6 other languages. English Wiktionary traces it to Old Norse Alfr, with the stated meaning “elf”.

Old Norse origin

Source-reported

Meaning: “elf”

From Old Norse Alfr, alfr (“elf”), with an identical meaning in modern Danish. Also a medieval contraction of Adolf, and later used as a pet form of Alfred.

Sources for this account (6)

Wiktionary: AlfCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
German Wiktionary: AlfCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Greek Wiktionary: AlfCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Polish Wiktionary: AlfCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Russian Wiktionary: AlfCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Turkish Wiktionary: AlfCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14

Documented usage

View usage notes (10)

Masculine usage · Wikidata Q2698865
Masculine usage in Danish · Wiktionary: Alf
Masculine usage in English · Wiktionary: Alf
Masculine usage in Norwegian Bokmål · Wiktionary: Alf
Masculine usage in Norwegian Nynorsk · Wiktionary: Alf
Masculine usage in Swedish · Wiktionary: Alf
Masculine usage in German · German Wiktionary: Alf
Masculine usage in Finnish · Greek Wiktionary: Alf
Masculine usage in French · Greek Wiktionary: Alf
Masculine usage in Norwegian · Greek Wiktionary: Alf

Explore all 9 language contexts

Linguistic usage labels come from name dictionaries. They are separate from the sex categories recorded in statistical files.

Spelling and script

Written form “Alf” in the Latin script. Wikidata item Q2698865.

Name days: 01-03 (Norway), 06-21 (Sweden).

All pronunciation details (2)

/ælf/ — English
[alf] — German

02 / Across borders

Where Alf is used

Explore official naming statistics and documented language connections around the world.

The name atlas

Across borders

countries in our sources

Select a country to follow Alf’s connections around the world.

6 countries with official statistics. Language records show cultural connections; they do not measure how common a name is.

Selected country

United States

Statistics + language records

United States, 1979: 5 boys (rank 6056). Documented as a given name in English.

Explore United States

4 of 19 countries

03 / By the numbers

Popularity over time

Follow the spelling through the years, one published dataset at a time.

United States

1880–2025 Spelling: Alf

Region and dataset

Recorded category boys

Latest · 1979: 5; applications; Rank #6,056
Peak year: 1916; 38 applications

Hover to explore a year. Use arrow keys when a chart point has focus.

Source: US Social Security Administration; redistributed by nkrishnaswami · SSA national baby names, 1880–2025 (CC0 redistribution)

Integer application counts retained without rounding.

Per million is unavailable: this source has no matching published total.

Show the data table

Alf in United States, boys: applications and rank by year
Year	Applications	Rank	Status
1880	7	745	observed
1881	5	866	observed
1882	6	837	observed
1883	15	460	observed
1884	7	764	observed
1885	5	936	observed
1886	9	647	observed
1887	8	679	observed
1888	10	648	observed
1889	12	549	observed
1890	10	629	observed
1891	11	564	observed
1892	10	688	observed
1893	11	615	observed
1894	6	954	observed
1895	6	978	observed
1896	9	778	observed
1897	10	681	observed
1898	5	1,121	observed
1899	no value	no value	not covered
1900	8	968	observed
1901	12	596	observed
1902	5	1,137	observed
1903	5	1,130	observed
1904	10	760	observed
1905	8	919	observed
1906	9	852	observed
1907	11	815	observed
1908	9	946	observed
1909	6	1,277	observed
1910	6	1,421	observed
1911	19	732	observed
1912	22	970	observed
1913	20	1,146	observed
1914	27	1,101	observed
1915	34	1,100	observed
1916	38	1,043	observed
1917	36	1,113	observed
1918	32	1,231	observed
1919	36	1,159	observed
1920	26	1,457	observed
1921	27	1,448	observed
1922	18	1,883	observed
1923	27	1,420	observed
1924	34	1,246	observed
1925	18	1,870	observed
1926	17	1,911	observed
1927	25	1,516	observed
1928	18	1,822	observed
1929	21	1,611	observed
1930	19	1,693	observed
1931	18	1,693	observed
1932	17	1,777	observed
1933	18	1,644	observed
1934	16	1,783	observed
1935	12	2,127	observed
1936	18	1,587	observed
1937	14	1,913	observed
1938	13	1,976	observed
1939	12	2,050	observed
1940	no value	no value	not covered
1941	7	2,872	observed
1942	14	1,946	observed
1943	7	2,964	observed
1944	9	2,467	observed
1945	6	2,996	observed
1946	9	2,534	observed
1947	13	2,169	observed
1948	6	3,316	observed
1949	17	1,820	observed
1950	9	2,580	observed
1951	6	3,364	observed
1952	10	2,514	observed
1953	7	3,143	observed
1954	11	2,449	observed
1955	no value	no value	not covered
1956	8	2,969	observed
1957	5	3,993	observed
1958	no value	no value	not covered
1959	9	2,821	observed
1960	8	3,077	observed
1961	5	4,065	observed
1962	5	4,033	observed
1963	no value	no value	not covered
1964	9	2,854	observed
1965	no value	no value	not covered
1966	no value	no value	not covered
1967	5	3,966	observed
1968	5	4,136	observed
1969	5	4,404	observed
1970	no value	no value	not covered
1971	5	4,907	observed
1972	6	4,441	observed
1973	no value	no value	not covered
1974	8	3,837	observed
1975	8	3,941	observed
1976	no value	no value	not covered
1977	no value	no value	not covered
1978	no value	no value	not covered
1979	5	6,056	observed
1980	no value	no value	not covered
1981	no value	no value	not covered
1982	no value	no value	not covered
1983	no value	no value	not covered
1984	no value	no value	not covered
1985	no value	no value	not covered
1986	no value	no value	not covered
1987	no value	no value	not covered
1988	no value	no value	not covered
1989	no value	no value	not covered
1990	no value	no value	not covered
1991	no value	no value	not covered
1992	no value	no value	not covered
1993	no value	no value	not covered
1994	no value	no value	not covered
1995	no value	no value	not covered
1996	no value	no value	not covered
1997	no value	no value	not covered
1998	no value	no value	not covered
1999	no value	no value	not covered
2000	no value	no value	not covered
2001	no value	no value	not covered
2002	no value	no value	not covered
2003	no value	no value	not covered
2004	no value	no value	not covered
2005	no value	no value	not covered
2006	no value	no value	not covered
2007	no value	no value	not covered
2008	no value	no value	not covered
2009	no value	no value	not covered
2010	no value	no value	not covered
2011	no value	no value	not covered
2012	no value	no value	not covered
2013	no value	no value	not covered
2014	no value	no value	not covered
2015	no value	no value	not covered
2016	no value	no value	not covered
2017	no value	no value	not covered
2018	no value	no value	not covered
2019	no value	no value	not covered
2020	no value	no value	not covered
2021	no value	no value	not covered
2022	no value	no value	not covered
2023	no value	no value	not covered
2024	no value	no value	not covered
2025	no value	no value	not covered

About this dataset and its counting rules

Statistics count the spelling “Alf” as recorded by the publisher. When a spelling has several independent origins, the counts are not split between them. Counts measure applications. Gaps are years without a published value, not zeros.

Rates per million are unavailable for this series because no compatible denominator has been imported.

Universe: US national Social Security card applications by name, sex and birth year; not a complete birth registry, especially before 1937.
Rounding: Integer application counts retained without rounding.
Suppression: Only names with at least 5 occurrences in a year and sex are included. Missing observations are not zeros.
Ranking: computed by NameStoria from published counts; ties share a rank, next rank skips. The mirror's derived rank column is not used.

Retrieved 2026-10-15 · CC0-1.0

Read our methodology

04 / Through time

History

Notable bearers (sourced)

People on Wikidata whose recorded given name is this item (not necessarily their first name), ordered by number of Wikipedia articles. Their names may use a different spelling.

Alf Ramsey (1920–1999) — English association football player and manager (1920-1999) source
Alf Sjöberg (1903–1980) — Swedish film director (1903-1980) source
Alf Landon (1887–1987) — American politician (1887–1987) source
Alf Prøysen (1914–1970) — Norwegian singer-songwriter and author (1914–1970) source
Alf Andersen (1906–1975) — Norwegian ski jumper (1906-1975) source

A little story to keep

A name worth keeping.

Take the story of Alf with you. Create a personal name passport with its meaning, roots and connections.

06 / Behind the facts

Sources for this page

Review status: Source-reported — no editorial review recorded yet. Last data change 2026-10-15.

Name origins & languageDictionaries, name records and related forms7

Wikidata Q2698865CC0-1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Wiktionary: AlfCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
German Wiktionary: AlfCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Greek Wiktionary: AlfCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Polish Wiktionary: AlfCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Russian Wiktionary: AlfCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Turkish Wiktionary: AlfCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14

Pronunciation recordingsAudio credits and individual recording licences2

Wikimedia Commons: File:LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Alf.wavCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Wikimedia Commons: File:De-Alf.oggCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15

Official statisticsPublishers, dataset licences and retrieval dates6

SSA national baby names, 1880–2025 (CC0 redistribution)
US Social Security Administration; redistributed by nkrishnaswami · CC0-1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Norway — published individual first-name birth counts, 1945–2025
Statistics Norway (SSB) · CC-BY-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
South Australia — Popular Baby Names, per-year lists including names given once, 1944-2017
Attorney-General's Department, South Australia (via data.sa.gov.au) · CC-BY-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Statistik Austria — Vornamen (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1): first names of live births, Austria, 1984-2025 (national counts from district rows)
Statistik Austria (Bundesanstalt Statistik Österreich) · CC-BY-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Finland — first given names of living Finnish citizens in Finland or abroad, 2026-08-03
Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV), Finland · CC-BY-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Baby names in England and Wales: 2025 (boys and girls workbooks, Table 6: all published names)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) · OGL-UK-3.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14

Wiktionary text: CC BY-SA 4.0. Wikidata: CC0. Commons recordings retain their individual file licences. Complete attribution is available in each group above and alongside each chart.

Loading your next page…

About Alf

Alf is a masculine given name documented in English, French, German and 6 other languages. English Wiktionary traces it to Old Norse Alfr, with the stated meaning “elf”.

Old Norse origin

Source-reported

Meaning: “elf”

From Old Norse Alfr, alfr (“elf”), with an identical meaning in modern Danish. Also a medieval contraction of Adolf, and later used as a pet form of Alfred.

Sources for this account (6)

Wiktionary: AlfCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
German Wiktionary: AlfCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Greek Wiktionary: AlfCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Polish Wiktionary: AlfCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Russian Wiktionary: AlfCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Turkish Wiktionary: AlfCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14

Documented usage

View usage notes (10)

Masculine usage · Wikidata Q2698865
Masculine usage in Danish · Wiktionary: Alf
Masculine usage in English · Wiktionary: Alf
Masculine usage in Norwegian Bokmål · Wiktionary: Alf
Masculine usage in Norwegian Nynorsk · Wiktionary: Alf
Masculine usage in Swedish · Wiktionary: Alf
Masculine usage in German · German Wiktionary: Alf
Masculine usage in Finnish · Greek Wiktionary: Alf
Masculine usage in French · Greek Wiktionary: Alf
Masculine usage in Norwegian · Greek Wiktionary: Alf

Explore all 9 language contexts

Linguistic usage labels come from name dictionaries. They are separate from the sex categories recorded in statistical files.

Spelling and script

Written form “Alf” in the Latin script. Wikidata item Q2698865.

Name days: 01-03 (Norway), 06-21 (Sweden).

All pronunciation details (2)

/ælf/ — English
[alf] — German

Where Alf is used

Explore official naming statistics and documented language connections around the world.

The name atlas

Across borders

countries in our sources

Select a country to follow Alf’s connections around the world.

6 countries with official statistics. Language records show cultural connections; they do not measure how common a name is.

Selected country

United States

Statistics + language records

United States, 1979: 5 boys (rank 6056). Documented as a given name in English.

Explore United States

4 of 19 countries

Popularity over time

Follow the spelling through the years, one published dataset at a time.

United States

1880–2025 Spelling: Alf

Region and dataset

Recorded category boys

Latest · 1979: 5; applications; Rank #6,056
Peak year: 1916; 38 applications

Hover to explore a year. Use arrow keys when a chart point has focus.

Source: US Social Security Administration; redistributed by nkrishnaswami · SSA national baby names, 1880–2025 (CC0 redistribution)

Integer application counts retained without rounding.

Per million is unavailable: this source has no matching published total.

Show the data table

Alf in United States, boys: applications and rank by year
Year	Applications	Rank	Status
1880	7	745	observed
1881	5	866	observed
1882	6	837	observed
1883	15	460	observed
1884	7	764	observed
1885	5	936	observed
1886	9	647	observed
1887	8	679	observed
1888	10	648	observed
1889	12	549	observed
1890	10	629	observed
1891	11	564	observed
1892	10	688	observed
1893	11	615	observed
1894	6	954	observed
1895	6	978	observed
1896	9	778	observed
1897	10	681	observed
1898	5	1,121	observed
1899	no value	no value	not covered
1900	8	968	observed
1901	12	596	observed
1902	5	1,137	observed
1903	5	1,130	observed
1904	10	760	observed
1905	8	919	observed
1906	9	852	observed
1907	11	815	observed
1908	9	946	observed
1909	6	1,277	observed
1910	6	1,421	observed
1911	19	732	observed
1912	22	970	observed
1913	20	1,146	observed
1914	27	1,101	observed
1915	34	1,100	observed
1916	38	1,043	observed
1917	36	1,113	observed
1918	32	1,231	observed
1919	36	1,159	observed
1920	26	1,457	observed
1921	27	1,448	observed
1922	18	1,883	observed
1923	27	1,420	observed
1924	34	1,246	observed
1925	18	1,870	observed
1926	17	1,911	observed
1927	25	1,516	observed
1928	18	1,822	observed
1929	21	1,611	observed
1930	19	1,693	observed
1931	18	1,693	observed
1932	17	1,777	observed
1933	18	1,644	observed
1934	16	1,783	observed
1935	12	2,127	observed
1936	18	1,587	observed
1937	14	1,913	observed
1938	13	1,976	observed
1939	12	2,050	observed
1940	no value	no value	not covered
1941	7	2,872	observed
1942	14	1,946	observed
1943	7	2,964	observed
1944	9	2,467	observed
1945	6	2,996	observed
1946	9	2,534	observed
1947	13	2,169	observed
1948	6	3,316	observed
1949	17	1,820	observed
1950	9	2,580	observed
1951	6	3,364	observed
1952	10	2,514	observed
1953	7	3,143	observed
1954	11	2,449	observed
1955	no value	no value	not covered
1956	8	2,969	observed
1957	5	3,993	observed
1958	no value	no value	not covered
1959	9	2,821	observed
1960	8	3,077	observed
1961	5	4,065	observed
1962	5	4,033	observed
1963	no value	no value	not covered
1964	9	2,854	observed
1965	no value	no value	not covered
1966	no value	no value	not covered
1967	5	3,966	observed
1968	5	4,136	observed
1969	5	4,404	observed
1970	no value	no value	not covered
1971	5	4,907	observed
1972	6	4,441	observed
1973	no value	no value	not covered
1974	8	3,837	observed
1975	8	3,941	observed
1976	no value	no value	not covered
1977	no value	no value	not covered
1978	no value	no value	not covered
1979	5	6,056	observed
1980	no value	no value	not covered
1981	no value	no value	not covered
1982	no value	no value	not covered
1983	no value	no value	not covered
1984	no value	no value	not covered
1985	no value	no value	not covered
1986	no value	no value	not covered
1987	no value	no value	not covered
1988	no value	no value	not covered
1989	no value	no value	not covered
1990	no value	no value	not covered
1991	no value	no value	not covered
1992	no value	no value	not covered
1993	no value	no value	not covered
1994	no value	no value	not covered
1995	no value	no value	not covered
1996	no value	no value	not covered
1997	no value	no value	not covered
1998	no value	no value	not covered
1999	no value	no value	not covered
2000	no value	no value	not covered
2001	no value	no value	not covered
2002	no value	no value	not covered
2003	no value	no value	not covered
2004	no value	no value	not covered
2005	no value	no value	not covered
2006	no value	no value	not covered
2007	no value	no value	not covered
2008	no value	no value	not covered
2009	no value	no value	not covered
2010	no value	no value	not covered
2011	no value	no value	not covered
2012	no value	no value	not covered
2013	no value	no value	not covered
2014	no value	no value	not covered
2015	no value	no value	not covered
2016	no value	no value	not covered
2017	no value	no value	not covered
2018	no value	no value	not covered
2019	no value	no value	not covered
2020	no value	no value	not covered
2021	no value	no value	not covered
2022	no value	no value	not covered
2023	no value	no value	not covered
2024	no value	no value	not covered
2025	no value	no value	not covered

About this dataset and its counting rules

Rates per million are unavailable for this series because no compatible denominator has been imported.

Universe: US national Social Security card applications by name, sex and birth year; not a complete birth registry, especially before 1937.
Rounding: Integer application counts retained without rounding.
Suppression: Only names with at least 5 occurrences in a year and sex are included. Missing observations are not zeros.
Ranking: computed by NameStoria from published counts; ties share a rank, next rank skips. The mirror's derived rank column is not used.

Retrieved 2026-10-15 · CC0-1.0

Read our methodology

History

Notable bearers (sourced)

People on Wikidata whose recorded given name is this item (not necessarily their first name), ordered by number of Wikipedia articles. Their names may use a different spelling.

Alf Ramsey (1920–1999) — English association football player and manager (1920-1999) source
Alf Sjöberg (1903–1980) — Swedish film director (1903-1980) source
Alf Landon (1887–1987) — American politician (1887–1987) source
Alf Prøysen (1914–1970) — Norwegian singer-songwriter and author (1914–1970) source
Alf Andersen (1906–1975) — Norwegian ski jumper (1906-1975) source

Sources for this page

Review status: Source-reported — no editorial review recorded yet. Last data change 2026-10-15.

Name origins & languageDictionaries, name records and related forms7

Wikidata Q2698865CC0-1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Wiktionary: AlfCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
German Wiktionary: AlfCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Greek Wiktionary: AlfCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Polish Wiktionary: AlfCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Russian Wiktionary: AlfCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Turkish Wiktionary: AlfCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14

Pronunciation recordingsAudio credits and individual recording licences2

Wikimedia Commons: File:LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Alf.wavCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Wikimedia Commons: File:De-Alf.oggCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15

Official statisticsPublishers, dataset licences and retrieval dates6

SSA national baby names, 1880–2025 (CC0 redistribution)
US Social Security Administration; redistributed by nkrishnaswami · CC0-1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Norway — published individual first-name birth counts, 1945–2025
Statistics Norway (SSB) · CC-BY-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
South Australia — Popular Baby Names, per-year lists including names given once, 1944-2017
Attorney-General's Department, South Australia (via data.sa.gov.au) · CC-BY-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Statistik Austria — Vornamen (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1): first names of live births, Austria, 1984-2025 (national counts from district rows)
Statistik Austria (Bundesanstalt Statistik Österreich) · CC-BY-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Finland — first given names of living Finnish citizens in Finland or abroad, 2026-08-03
Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV), Finland · CC-BY-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Baby names in England and Wales: 2025 (boys and girls workbooks, Table 6: all published names)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) · OGL-UK-3.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14

Wiktionary text: CC BY-SA 4.0. Wikidata: CC0. Commons recordings retain their individual file licences. Complete attribution is available in each group above and alongside each chart.

Alf

About Alf

Old Norse origin

Where Alf is used

Across borders

United States

Popularity over time

United States

History

Notable bearers (sourced)

Álfur

Alv

Alfhild

Alva

Vilde

A name worth keeping.

Sources for this page

Alf

About Alf

Old Norse origin

Where Alf is used

Across borders

United States

Popularity over time

United States

History

Notable bearers (sourced)

Álfur

Alv

Alfhild

Alva

Vilde

A name worth keeping.

Sources for this page

A story to pass on.

About Alf

Old Norse origin

Where Alf is used

Across borders

United States

Popularity over time

United States

History

Notable bearers (sourced)

Related names

Different forms. Shared stories.

Meet the family

Related names in the catalogue

A name worth keeping.

Sources for this page

A story to pass on.

About Alf

Old Norse origin

Where Alf is used

Across borders

United States

Popularity over time

United States

History

Notable bearers (sourced)

Related names

Different forms. Shared stories.

Meet the family

Related names in the catalogue

A name worth keeping.

Sources for this page