Alfonso
Masculine · “from Gothic name elements”
Alfonso is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 41,464 boys against 115 girls since 1880.
Alfonso has been the name of kings for well over a thousand years — Asturias, León, Castile, Aragón — including Alfonso X of Castile, the thirteenth-century monarch remembered for his law codes, his star tables and his songs to the Virgin. The word sits comfortably in the mouth in both English and Spanish, three syllables with the weight in the middle, and it has been shortened affectionately in Spanish-speaking homes for generations.
How old is the name Alfonso?
Alfonso first appears in US birth records in 1881 — 144 years ago. The typical Alfonso alive today was born around 1973, making them about 52 years old. About 29,500 people named Alfonso are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Alfonso most popular?
Alfonso peaked in 1929, reaching #294 nationally. Today it ranks #1012, 718 places below that high. See the whole 1929 chart.
Alfonso appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From Adalfuns to Alfonso
The story of Alfonso
The name arrived in Iberia with the Visigoths and settled there, appearing in medieval Latin documents as Adefonsus and Alfonsus before smoothing into the Spanish and Italian Alfonso and the Portuguese Afonso. From the eighth century onward it was worn by a long line of monarchs in the Christian kingdoms of northern Spain, which fixed it permanently in the region's naming stock. Alfonso X of Castile, in the thirteenth century, gave it a scholarly reputation that outlasted his reign. It came to the United States chiefly with Spanish- and Italian-speaking families, and it has held a quiet, unbroken place in American records ever since.
Meaningscholars disagree
from Gothic name elements, most often read as "noble" and "ready, eager"
The name reaches us through medieval Latin Adefonsus, and scholars disagree about which Gothic name stands behind it. The most common reading takes the elements adal "noble" and funs "ready, eager." Others trace the first part to hild or hathu, both meaning "battle," giving something closer to "ready for battle." The second element is the steady one; the first is where the argument lives.
How the name formed
- Adalfuns
- Adefonsus
- Alfonsus
- Alfonso
- Afonso
Related forms: Alfonso · Afonso · Alphonse · Alfons · Alfons · Alfonz
Pronouncing Alfonso
al-FON-so
In Spanish the first vowel is fuller and rounder: ahl-FOHN-so. Both are the same name, and the stress falls on the middle syllable either way.
Nicknames for Alfonso
High
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1881
- Most boys named
- 1993544 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #294reached in 1929
- Change vs 2022
- −11.5%223 in 2025, from 252
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Alfonso in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Alfonso in Spanish — same name
- Afonso in Portuguese — same name
- Alphonse in French — same name
- Alfons in Catalan — same name
- Alfons in German — same name
- Alfonz in Hungarian — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Alfonsos among us
people named Alfonso are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 7,660 born in 2025 was named Alfonso
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Odell test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Alfonso's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Odell climbed just as high around 1906, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Odell's path sketches the road Alfonso is walking now.
Alfonso sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Alfonso is headed
Alfonso should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Alfonso beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Alfonso in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Documented in continuous use since the early Middle Ages, with no gap in the record.
- Reads correctly at first sight in English, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese-speaking settings.
- Several long-established short forms to choose from, including Poncho, Fonso and Al.
- Spelling is phonetic and needs no explanation to a Spanish or English reader.
- It sits close to Alonso and Alonzo, which are themselves Spanish offshoots of the same name. Expect occasional crossed wires, and the Alphonse spelling may be offered by people who learned the French form first.
- In the United States the name is most strongly represented among older generations, so it may read as a grandfather's name to some ears before it reads as a baby's.
- The affectionate Spanish short form Poncho travels well within a Spanish-speaking family but can puzzle people outside it, and Al is generic enough to belong to half a dozen other names.
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What they receive
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Alfonso
Masculine · #1012 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Alfonsos are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 29,500 people named Alfonso are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Alfonso in 2025?
- Alfonso ranks #1012 among US boy names in 2025, with 223 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Alfonso?
- About 1 in every 7,660 US boys born in 2025 was named Alfonso — 223 in all.
- Will my child share the name Alfonso with classmates?
- Alfonso will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Alfonso
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Allan#1012 · Grey#1014 · Joziah#1015 · Zayan#1015 · Kace#1015 · Watson#1008 · Aden#1008 · Rayyan#1008
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Alfonso? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Alfonso and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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