Alphons (Latinized Alphonsus, Adelphonsus, or Adefonsus) is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic Kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula. In the later medieval period it became a standard name in the Hispanic and Portuguese royal families.
It is derived from a Gothic name, or a conflation of several Gothic names; from *Aþalfuns, composed of the elements aþal "noble" and funs "eager, brave, ready", and perhaps influenced by names such as *Alafuns, *Adefuns and *Ildefonsus.
It is recorded as Adefonsus in the 9th and 10th century,[In the genitive, Adefonsi.] and as Adelfonsus, Adelphonsus in the 10th to 11th. The reduced form Alfonso is recorded in the late 9th century, and the Portuguese form Afonso from the early 11th[José Pedro Machado, Dicionário Onomástico Etimológico da Língua Portuguesa][E. Förstemann, Altdeutsches Namenbuch (1856:133, 145).] and Anfós in Catalan from the 12th century until the 15th.[ Diccionari d'Història de Catalunya; 62nd ed.; Barcelona; 1998; ; p. 25.]
Variants of the name include: Alonso (Spanish), Alfonso (Spanish and Italian), Alfons (Dutch, German, Catalan, Polish, Croatian and Scandinavian), Afonso (Portuguese and Galician), Alphonse, Alfonse (French and English), etc.
Middle Ages
Iberian royal families
- Asturias/Leon/Castile/Spain
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Alfonso I of Asturias (739–757)
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Alfonso II of Asturias (791–842)
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Alfonso III of León (866–910)
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Alfonso Fróilaz (925–926)
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Alfonso IV of León (925–931)
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Alfonso V of León (999–1028)
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Alfonso VI of León (1065–1109)
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Alfonso VII of León (1126–1157)
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Alfonso VIII of Castile (1158–1214)
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Alfonso IX of León (1188–1230)
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Alfonso X of Castile (1252–1284)
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Alfonso XI of Castile (1312–1350)
- Aragon & Naples
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Alfonso I of Aragon (1104–1134), known as el Batallador (The Battler)
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Alfonso II of Aragon (1162–1196)
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Alfonso III of Aragon (1285–1291)
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Alfonso IV of Aragon (1327–1336)
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Alfonso V of Aragon (1416–1458), also king of Naples and Sicily
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Alfonso II of Naples (1448–1495)
Other
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Alfonso Jordan (1103–1148)
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Alphonse, Count of Poitiers (1220–1271)
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Alfonso of Valladolid (c. 1270 – c. 1347), Jewish convert to Christianity, philosopher, and mathematician
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Alphonso, Earl of Chester (1273–1284), first son of Edward I of England, named after his godfather Alfonso X of Castile; died in childhood
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Juan Alfonso de Baena (c. 1375 – c. 1434), Castilian troubadour
Early modern period
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Alphonse Daudet, French novelist and historian
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Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara
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Alphonse de Tonty, Baron de Paludy (c. 1659 – 1727)
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Alfonso II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara
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Alfonso II, Count of Provence, second son of Alfonso II of Aragon
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Alfonso III d'Este, Duke of Modena and Reggio
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Alfonso of Castile, Prince of Asturias, figurehead of rebelling magnates against his brother King Henry IV of Castile
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Alfonso of Hauteville, Prince of Capua
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Alphonsus Liguori, Roman Catholic theologian (1696–1787)
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Joseph-Alphonse Esménard (1770–1811)
Modern period
Iberian/Sicilian nobility
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Prince Alfonso, Count of Caserta (1841–1934), duke of Calabria and head of the royal house of the Two Sicilies
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Alfonso XII of Spain (1857–1885) (ordinal numbering continues from the kings of Castile)
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Alfonso XIII of Spain (1886–1931)
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Infante Alfonso, Duke of Calabria, claimant to the title of the head of House of Bourbon Two Sicilies
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Alfonso of Spain, Prince of Asturias, heir-apparent of the throne of Spain
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Prince Alfonso of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1924–2003), Spanish playboy and businessman
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Infante Alfonso of Spain, younger brother of King Juan Carlos of Spain
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Fadrique Alfonso of Castile, fifth illegitimate child of Alfonso XI of Castile
Alfons
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Alfons Almi (1904–1991), Finnish opera singer and administrator
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Alfons van Blaaderen (born 1963), Dutch physicist
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Alfons Geleyns (1887–1914), Belgian private
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Alfons Goppel (1905–1991), German politician
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Alfons Gorbach (1898–1972), Austrian politician
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Alfons Grotowski (1833–1922), Polish engineer
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Alfons Jēgers (1919–1999), Latvian football and hockey player
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Alfons Karpiński (1875–1961), Polish painter
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Alfons Rebane (1908–1976), Estonian military commander
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Alfons Rissberger (born 1948), German author
Alphonse
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Alphonse Gabriel Capone (1899–1947), Chicago gangster
Alfonso
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Alfonso Cuarón, Mexican cinematographer
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Alfonso Calderon (activist), Spanish-born gun control activist
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Alfonso Calderón (poet), Chilean poet and writer
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Alfonso Soriano, American baseball player
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Alfonso Lizarazo, Colombian host and politician
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Alfonso Mejia-Arias, Mexican musician, writer, social activist and politician
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Alfonso Ribeiro, Caribbean-American actor and game show host
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Alfonso John Romero, American video-game designer
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Alfonso Pérez, Spanish football player
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Alfonso Oiterong, Palauan politician, vice president
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Alicia Alfonso (born 1963), Uruguayan actress
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Giovanni Alfonso Borelli, Italian physiologist and physicist
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José Alfonso Belloso y Sánchez (1873–1938), Salvadorean archbishop
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Miguel Alfonso Pérez Aracil, Spanish football player
Alfonse
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Alfonse D'Amato (born 1937), American politician from New York
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Abraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin (1761–1849), Swiss-American politician
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Alphonse Mucha (1860–1939), Czech artist
Alphonso
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Alphonso Davies, Canadian soccer player born in Ghana, who grew up in Edmonton
As a surname
Alphonse,
Alphonso,
Alfonso is occasionally seen as a surname derived from the given name, the latter descending from
Asturias and
Cantabria.
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Celestino Alfonso (1916–1944), Spanish republican and volunteer fighter in the French resistance during World War II
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Roland Alphonso (1931–1998), Jamaican saxophonist
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Kristian Alfonso (born 1963), Puerto Rican American soap opera actress
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Michael Lee Alfonso (1965–2007), ring name "Mike Awesome", American professional wrestler
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Equis Alfonso, known as X-Alfonso, Cuban hip-hop and afro-rock musician
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Ozzie Alfonso, Cuban-American TV director and producer
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Sadda Vidda Rajapakse Palanga Pathira Ambakumarage Ranjan Leo Sylvester Alphonsu, Sri Lankan Sinhala politician, actor, singer, writer
Pseudonym
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Bill Alfonso, ring name of William Matthew Sierra, former professional wrestling referee & manager
Stage name
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Alfons, the stage name of Emmanuel Peterfalvi, a French comedian
Fictional characters
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Alphonso, protagonist in Alfonso und Estrella, an opera by Franz Schubert
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Don Alfonso, character in Mozart's opera Così fan tutte
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Alphonso MacKenzie, fictional character in the Marvel Universe
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Alfie Atkins, known as Alfons Åberg in Swedish, character created by Gunilla Bergström from Sweden
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Alfonzo Dominico Jones, a dog in the Australian television series SeaChange
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Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice, character in the comic strip Dick Tracy
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Alphonse and Gaston, French duo in a comic strip created by Frederick Burr Opper
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Alphonse Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist
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Alfons Heiderich from
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Alphonse Mephisto, fictional character in the animated television series South Park
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Alphonso Ali, minor character in Bloom County
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Monsieur Alphonse, main character from Alexandre Dumas fils's play from 1873, who was a procurer (now in Polish language alfons is often used as a synonym of procurer, so name Alfons became very rare in Poland)
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Monsieur Alfonse, character in the BBC sitcom Allo 'Allo! played by the actor Kenneth Connor
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The name of a number of pets and the Patlabor of Noa Izumi from the anime Patlabor
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Oren Pierre Alfonso from Kamen Rider Gaim
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Alfonso "French" Sosa, a main character from The OA
See also
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Afonso
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Ildefonso (disambiguation)
