Fun Facts About the Name Alphonsus
- 454 babies named Alphonsus: U.S. records list 454 babies given the name Alphonsus from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Alphonsus Mean?
Alphonsus is the Latin form of Alfonso, a name of Germanic origin. It is usually explained as a compound of adal, "noble," and funs, "ready" or "eager." The literal sense is a two-part descriptive name, something like "noble-ready"; the customary English rendering is "noble and ready." The -us ending is Latin. The name did not originate in Latin, but in a Germanic name that passed into the Iberian Romance languages as Alfonso and Afonso.
The second element, funs, points to readiness or willingness, not specifically to battle; translations such as "ready for battle" are interpretive extensions. The ph in Alphonsus belongs to the Latin written form, while the f in Alfonso reflects the Romance spelling of the same sound.
Alphonsus Name History & Origins
The name entered medieval Latin as Alphonsus, a Latinized rendering of the Iberian Romance Alfonso. It was borne by rulers of the Christian kingdoms of northern Spain and Portugal, and Latin charters and chronicles used Alphonsus for them. Among these were Alfonso I of Asturias in the eighth century, Alfonso VI of León and Castile (reigned 1065 - 1109), Alfonso X of Castile (reigned 1252 - 1284), and Alfonso I of Portugal (reigned 1139 - 1185).
From Latin the form passed into scholarly and church use across Europe. In English it is chiefly a learned or devotional spelling; the everyday English forms are Alphonso and Alfonso. The Latinized name is associated with Saint Alphonsus Rodriguez (1532 - 1617), a Spanish Jesuit lay brother, and with Saint Alphonsus Liguori (1696 - 1787), the Italian bishop who founded the Redemptorists and was named a Doctor of the Church. Liguori's Latin name, Alphonsus Maria de Ligorio, helped keep the form in Catholic writings.
In English Renaissance drama, Robert Greene wrote Alphonsus, King of Aragon in the late 1580s. That literary use is separate from the medieval Latin documentary use of the name. The same Germanic name that Latin rendered as Alphonsus also produced Italian Alfonso, French Alphonse, and German Alfons.
How Popular is the Name Alphonsus?
Alphonsus recorded its highest annual U.S. birth count in 1917. Its best rank was #750 in 1892.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #9,767 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2024 | #8,318 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2023 | #7,769 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 2022 | #9,017 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 2020 | #10,660 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2019 | #10,868 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1978 | #5,806 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1975 | #5,485 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1965 | #2,783 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1962 | #3,308 | 7 | 0.0003% |
| 1959 | #4,007 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 1957 | #4,005 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 1950 | #3,331 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1945 | #3,345 | 5 | 0.0004% |
| 1942 | #2,527 | 9 | 0.0007% |
| 1941 | #2,495 | 9 | 0.0007% |
| 1940 | #3,140 | 6 | 0.0005% |
| 1939 | #3,489 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1937 | #3,534 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1936 | #2,454 | 9 | 0.0009% |
| 1935 | #3,265 | 6 | 0.0006% |
| 1932 | #3,096 | 7 | 0.0007% |
| 1931 | #3,102 | 7 | 0.0007% |
| 1930 | #3,603 | 6 | 0.0005% |
| 1929 | #2,203 | 13 | 0.0012% |
| 1928 | #2,049 | 15 | 0.0014% |
| 1926 | #2,910 | 9 | 0.0008% |
| 1925 | #2,195 | 14 | 0.0013% |
| 1924 | #1,779 | 20 | 0.0018% |
| 1923 | #2,333 | 13 | 0.0012% |
| 1922 | #1,648 | 22 | 0.0020% |
| 1921 | #2,807 | 10 | 0.0009% |
| 1920 | #1,750 | 20 | 0.0019% |
| 1919 | #2,673 | 10 | 0.0010% |
| 1918 | #3,103 | 8 | 0.0008% |
| 1917 | #1,291 | 28 | 0.0030% |
| 1916 | #2,548 | 10 | 0.0011% |
| 1915 | #2,313 | 11 | 0.0013% |
| 1914 | #1,779 | 13 | 0.0020% |
| 1913 | #2,096 | 8 | 0.0016% |
| 1911 | #1,747 | 5 | 0.0022% |
| 1901 | #948 | 6 | 0.0056% |
| 1900 | #1,317 | 5 | 0.0033% |
| 1898 | #804 | 8 | 0.0065% |
| 1895 | #799 | 8 | 0.0068% |
| 1892 | #750 | 9 | 0.0074% |
| 1890 | #1,002 | 5 | 0.0045% |
| 1889 | #975 | 5 | 0.0045% |
| 1887 | #822 | 6 | 0.0059% |
| 1884 | #852 | 6 | 0.0052% |
| 1883 | #895 | 5 | 0.0048% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Alphonsus Shapes Your Personality and Life?
Powerful and complete. You are good intellectually and require several outlets for your energies. You are not a builder but a planner, and you want others to carry out your plans. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
Position and social status is very important for you and you are always looking for way to improve your position in society. You have power and ability to chose your own destiny and achieve anything you want in life. You can expand in any direction according to your will and the set of values. You have passion for justice and belong to the position of authority. You have an inherent courage and endurance to accomplish "The Impossible Dream". With the power comes responsibility. You hold keys to the material world, but with this gift comes high spiritual responsibility to be fair and true to others. You are philosophical and mature, determined and intense with a desire to endure, often religious.
✦ Alphonsus's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Alphonsus's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.