Alan

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Elena in AR Argentina, MX Mexico, ES Spain and 5 more, Елена in RU Russia, KZ Kazakhstan, BG Bulgaria and 1 more, Helen in US United States, AU Australia, PH Philippines and 1 more and Helena in BR Brazil, PL Poland, NL Netherlands.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 16 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Alan is also recorded as 5 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• a separate given name190K records spelled Alan6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, India, Canada

  Also written Alán, Ālān, Àlan, Álan, Ālan

• Indonesian given name34K records spelled Alan17 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, United States, Malaysia, United Kingdom

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written 'Alan, Halana, Alán, Al-An, Äľäň

• Hungarian given name17K records spelled Alan6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Finland, Hungary, United States, United Kingdom

  Languages: Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian

  Also written Älan, Álan, Alän

• Italian given name12K records spelled Alan2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Italy, San Marino

  Also written Alán

• Greek given name11K records spelled Alan5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Greece, United States, United Kingdom, Spain

  Also written Allan, Αλαν, Άλαν, Αλάν

86 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Alan is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In Irish, Possibly connected with ail, "noble"; may have been the name of a Celtic deity. Associated with Alan-a-Dale in Robin Hood lore.

  as a name·Irish first names

• In English, Irish-Scottish Gaelic; handsome, the bright fair one, the beautiful child; also term of endearment; feminine form of Alan

  as a name·Baby names, 25,350 baby names nicknames for your family, friends pets, including the top 100 names, 2,000 most popular…

• In English, from Breton name, often glossed as handsome or little rock

  as a name·Baby names, 25,350 baby names nicknames for your family, friends pets, including the top 100 names, 2,000 most popular…

• Of Celtic origin and uncertain derivation (possibly a diminutive of a word meaning ‘rock’). It was introduced into England by Breton followers of William the Conqueror, most notably Alan, Earl of Brittany, who was rewarded for his services with vast estates in the newly conquered kingdom. In Britain the vari-

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In English, Alternative form of alaunt.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 143 years between 1882–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Chester A. Arthurb. 1829USnot in their usual namepresident of the United States from 1881 to 1885
• Alan Shepardb. 1923USAmerican astronaut, first American in space, lunar explorer (1923–1998)
• Alan MacDiarmidb. 1927NZNew Zealand chemist (1927–2007)
• William Shatnerb. 1931CAnot in their usual nameCanadian actor (born 1931)
• Alan Beanb. 1932USAmerican astronaut and painter (1932-2018)
• Alan Rickmanb. 1946GBBritish actor and director (1946–2016)
• Alan Garcíab. 1949PEPresident of Peru (1985–1990 and 2006–2011)
• Russell Hulseb. 1950USnot in their usual nameAmerican astronomer
• Alan Silvestrib. 1950USAmerican composer, conductor, orchestrator and music producer
• Alan Cummingb. 1965GBBritish actor (born 1965)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,854 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Alan?

We estimate roughly 2.3 million people bear Alan (counting its spellings and scripts) across 13 countries in our records.

In which country does Alan have the most bearers?

Alan is most frequently recorded in Russia, where it is most often spelled елена.

How common is Alan compared with other names?

In Russia, Alan is the 2nd most common given name of 418,751 given names recorded there.

Is Alan a male or female name?

Alan is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Alan mean?

Recorded meaning: Breton/French form from Celtic, often linked to Breton alain 'little rock; harmony'.