Allen

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 20 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◐

Allen is also recorded as 6 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish given name596K records spelled Allen10 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Brazil, Philippines, Colombia

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Italian

  Also written Allén, Ällën

• a separate given name314K records spelled Allen4 spellings in the group

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

  Also written Allèn, Allén

• Chinese given name36K records spelled Allen7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Taiwan, China, United Kingdom

  Also written Allên, Ãĺĺëń, Ällën, Allén, Allens

• French given name22K records spelled Allen49 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Belgium, Canada

  Languages: French, Spanish, Portuguese

  Also written Alain, Alaín, Alen, AlleiN, Alaîn

• Indonesian given name20K records spelled Allen5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written Allén, Ållên, Ållëñ

• Polish given name19K records spelled Allen3 spellings in the group

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

  Also written Allén, Älleñ

89 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●

Allen 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 English, Variant of Allan/Alan, from the Celtic personal name Ailean meaning ‘rock’ or ‘rocky’.

  as a name·Scottish Surnames

• Variant spelling of Alan, in Britain generally found only as a surname, but in North America equally common as a given name.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In English, An English and Scottish surname transferred from the given name derived from the given name Alan.

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

• In German, laut Bahlow friesische Form zu Pers.N. Allo (Adalo); 245 Träger

  as a name·Deutscher Familiennamenatlas, Band 6: Familiennamen aus Rufnamen

• In English, v. ALLAIN

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

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) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Allen Ginsbergb. 1926USAmerican poet and writer (1926–1997)
• Gene Hackmanb. 1930USnot in their usual nameAmerican actor and novelist (1930–2025)
• Christopher Lloydb. 1938USnot in their usual nameAmerican actor (born 1938)
• Anne Riceb. 1941USnot in their usual nameAmerican author (1941–2021)
• Bob Dylanb. 1941USnot in their usual nameAmerican singer-songwriter (born 1941)
• Jimi Hendrixb. 1942USnot in their usual nameAmerican guitarist (1942–1970)
• Mark Mothersbaughb. 1950USnot in their usual nameAmerican musician
• Ray Liottab. 1954USnot in their usual nameAmerican actor (1954–2022)
• Jerry Seinfeldb. 1954USnot in their usual nameAmerican comedian and actor
• Allen Iversonb. 1975USAmerican basketball player (born 1975)

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 · 1,217 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Allen?

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

In which country does Allen have the most bearers?

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

How common is Allen compared with other names?

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

Is Allen a male or female name?

Allen 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 Allen mean?

Recorded meaning: From the male personal name Alan, of Celtic origin but unknown meaning; in England usually Allen, in Scotland Allan.