Alan

“Origin disputed; possibly linked to a word for noble” — Old Breton origin

Boy's name · #191 in the US (2025) · Heirloom

Alan is an heirloom: its strongest era came around 1951, when it ranked #40. It has thinned since but never left the records — about 363,000 boys since 1882, ranked #191 today. Alan's short forms are Allie and Ally. Together with its spelling variants Allen (#578) and Allan (#1013), Alan would rank around #137 with about 2,600 births last year — the newborns split about 73/19/8 across Alan, Allen, and Allan.

Around the world: #50 in Puerto Rico (2025) · #56 in Poland (2025) · #77 in Spain (2024).

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 41 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Famous Alans

Alan Turing — English computer scientist (1912–1954)
Alan Rickman — British actor and director (1946–2016)
Alan Shearer — English footballer
Alan Arkin — American actor, filmmaker (1934–2023)
Alan García — President of Peru (1985–1990 and 2006–2011)

In stories & tradition

Alan Scott — All-American Comics
Alan Grant — Jurassic Park · Jurassic Park III
Alan Partridge — I'm Alan Partridge · Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa

What Alans become

Among 5,707 notable people named Alan:

Sports figures appear 1.39× more often than among typical names — e.g. Alan Shearer, English footballer.

Similar names: Allan · Danny · Alex · Steven · Bryan · Calvin

Browse more boy names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

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