Afonso

Boy · Germanic, through Portuguese

Afonso

Say it: ah-FON-soo

Try it with your surname

Meaning

Portuguese form of Alfonso, from Visigothic Germanic elements usually read as 'noble' or 'battle' plus 'ready, eager'.

Likelythe main view, with some doubt.

Name of Portugal's first king and five more, and popular in Portugal again today.

Its wave through time

Rare in the records

In the United States

10 babies given this name since 2006
At its height in 2019, about 1 in 357,100 boys
Fewer than 5 babies a year in 2020

Through the ages

Used by

The family of the name

Spanish	Alfonso

Famous bearers

Afonso I Henriques, first king of Portugal
Afonso de Albuquerque, Portuguese commander in India

Names worth a look

HermenegildBoyFrom Germanic ermen 'whole, great' and gild 'payment, sacrifice'.Early Medieval · forgotten

GonçaloBoyPortuguese form of Gonzalo, from Visigothic Gundisalvus, with Germanic gunþ 'battle' as its first element.Middle Ages

BermudoBoyFrom Visigothic Veremundus; the second element is Germanic mund 'protection', the first is uncertain.Early Medieval · forgotten

SueroBoyUncertain; from medieval Latin Suarius, perhaps of Germanic origin.Middle Ages · forgotten

MunioBoyUncertain; from medieval Latin Munio, of debated origin.Early Medieval · forgotten

OsorioBoyUncertain; perhaps Germanic.Middle Ages · forgotten

AfanasyBoyFrom Greek athanatos 'immortal'.Middle Ages · forgotten

AvianaGirlRising nowpeak 2016

Where this comes from

Royal and noble genealogies
National birth statistics of European countries source
United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source

Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.

Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.