ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1817
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1817
************************************

From: "Sara L Friedemann" 
7 Nov 1999

Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You wanted to know if <Aluerd> was an authentic variant of the English name
<Alfred>.  Here is the information we have found.

<Aluerd> is a rare 11th century Latin spelling of the Old English name
<{AE}lfr{ae}d>, found only in the 1086 compilation of the Domesday book. [1]
The usual form of the name is <Alured>, with other spellings being <Aluert>,
<Alueredus>, and <Alueretus>; here the <u> represents a \v\ sound.  The {AE}
represents the a-e ligature, where the two vowels are placed next to each
other to share the same side line.

If you are interested in the pronunciation <Aluerd> with the <u> being \w\
instead of \v\, there is also a name <Aluard> found in 1182-86 [2].  In this
name, the <u> is \w\, being from the Old English name <{AE}lfweard>.

We hope that this letter has been useful to you, and that you will not
hesitate to write again if any part was unclear or if you have further
questions.  Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Talan
Gwyenk, Adelaide de Beaumont, Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, Alan Fairfax, Arval
Benicoeur, and Barak Raz.

For the Academy,
--Aryanhwy merch Catmael
     November 7, 1999

---------------------------------------
References:

[1] Feilitzen, O. von, _The Pre-Conquest Personal Names of Domesday Book_
(Uppsala: 1937).

[2] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_
(London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995). s.n. Allward