Alphonse is the French form of Alfonso, a Germanic name made of adal, "noble", and funs, "ready", so it is usually read as "noble and ready". It was the name of several French writers, among them Alphonse Daudet, of the Art Nouveau artist Alphonse Mucha, and, less flatteringly, of the gangster Al Capone, born Alphonse. In the United States Alphonse stood at number 3772 in 2000, peaked at number 2419 in 2020 and ranks number 2516 among boys' names in 2025.