Elfriede, also known as Elfreda, Elfrida, Alfrida, Elfrieda, Elftrude, Elftraut among other variants, is a female given name, derived from ''Ælfþryð'' (Aelfthryth) meaning "
elf-strength". The name fell out of fashion in the Middle Ages and was revived in the 19th century in both England and Germany. Although some of its modern forms like Alfieda can be mistaken for feminine versions of
Alfred, that derives from ''Ælfræd'' ('elf-counsel' or 'wise-elf'). The Southern German diminutive
Friedel or
Friedl Friedl is a Southern German diminutive variation of the name Fried - or alternately, a diminutive of the feminine given names Elfriede and Frederika. Notable people with the name include:
Given name
*Friedl Behn-Grund (1906–1989), German cinema ...
is nowadays more common than the full name.
Medieval
* Saint
Ælfflæd of Whitby, daughter of King
Oswiu of Northumbria and
Eanflæd, abbess of
Whitby Abbey (654–714)
* Saint
Ælfthryth of Crowland (died c. 795)
*
Ælfthryth, wife of King Coenwulf of Mercia (
fl.
''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...
810s)
*
Ælfthryth, Countess of Flanders, daughter of King
Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great (alt. Ælfred 848/849 – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who bot ...
(d. 929)
* Elftrude, daughter of
Adele of Vermandois and
Arnulf I, Count of Flanders (10th century)
*
Ælfthryth, wife of Edgar, king of England, mother of Ethelred the Unready (d. 1000)
Modern
*
Elfrida Andrée (1841–1929), Swedish organist, composer and conductor
*
Elfrida De Renne Barrow (1884–1970), American author and poet
* Elfriede
Elfi von Dassanowsky (1924–2007), Austrian-born singer, pianist and film producer
* Elfriede
Elfi Eder (born 1970), Austrian former alpine skier
*
Elfriede Florin (1912–2006), German actress
*
Elfriede Geiringer (1905–1998), Austrian Holocaust survivor, second wife of Otto Frank, father of Anne Frank
*
Elfriede Gerstl (1932–2009), Austrian author and Holocaust survivor
* Elfriede
Elfi Graf (born 1964), Austrian singer
*
Elfriede Jelinek (born 1946), Austrian playwright, 2004 Nobel laureate in Literature
*
Elfriede Lender (1882–1974), Estonian teacher and pedagogue
*
Elfrida Pigou (1911–1960), Canadian mountaineer
*
Elfrida Rathbone (1871–1940), English educationist
*
Elfriede Rinkel (born 1922), guard at the Ravensbrück concentration camp
*
Elfriede Saarik (1916–1983), Estonian dancer and stage actress
* Alfreda
Freda Simmonds (1912–1983), New Zealand artist
*
Elfriede Trötschel (1913–1958), German soprano
*
Elfrida Vipont
Elfrida Vipont Brown (3 July 1902 – 14 March 1992) was an English writer of children's literature. She was born in Manchester into a family of Quakers. As a children's writer, she initially published under a man's name, Charles Vipont, which wa ...
, pen name of Elfrida Vipont Foulds (1902–1992), British author of children's books
See also
*
Aelfrida Tillyard (1883-1959), British author, medium and self-styled mystic
{{given name
English given names
German feminine given names