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Origin and Meaning of First Names.

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Alan

Gender

Male

Origin

Celtic/Gaelic
Fair: handsome. See also Allen.
Celtic
Handsome
English

Syllables

2

Alternate Spellings and Variants of Alan

Pronunciation

a-lan

Famous People

Astronaut Alan Shepard, Actor Alan Alda, Poet and writer Edgar Allen Poe

Popularity in the USA

  • Boys: peak in 1955 (rank #43, 9,028 births); most recent 2025 (rank #191, 1,915 births)
  • Girls: peak in 1962 (rank #2264, 28 births); most recent 2018 (rank #15678, 5 births)
Births by year in the USA
YearBoysGirls
20251,915–
20242,183–
20232,164–
20222,005–
20211,931–
20201,966–
20192,141–
20182,2505
20172,4425
20162,6305

Top girl names · Top boy names in the USA (2025)

Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA), national baby names data (public domain). This site is not affiliated with or endorsed by the SSA. Data years: 1880 to 2025. Original data

Popularity in England and Wales

  • Boys: peak in 2015 (rank #170, 346 births); most recent 2025 (rank #539, 72 births)
Births by year in England and Wales
YearBoys
202572
202464
202386
202284
2021127
2020154
2019152
2018199
2017246
2016312

Top girl names · Top boy names in England and Wales (2025)

Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS), Baby names in England and Wales. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Data years: 1996 to 2025. Original data · Licence

Popularity in France

  • Boys: peak in 2000 (rank #87, 969 births); most recent 2023 (rank #414, 122 births)
Births by year in France
YearBoys
2023122
2022124
2021159
2020143
2019136
2018181
2017179
2016223
2015181
2014220

Top girl names · Top boy names in France (2023)

Source: INSEE, Fichier des prénoms (last updated 8 July 2024), used under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0. Changes: names are shown in title case, and spellings that differ only by accents are counted together. Data years: 1900 to 2023. Original data · Licence

Popularity in Ireland

  • Boys: peak in 1980 (rank #9, 815 births); most recent 2025 (rank #229, 20 births)
Births by year in Ireland
YearBoys
202520
202418
202313
202231
202128
202024
201947
201843
201753
201660

Top girl names · Top boy names in Ireland (2025)

Source: Central Statistics Office (CSO), Ireland, Irish Babies' Names (tables VSA50 and VSA60), licensed under CC BY 4.0. Changes: spellings that differ only by accents (for example Rian and Rían) are counted together. Data years: 1964 to 2025. Original data · Licence

Popularity in Scotland

  • Boys: peak in 1975 (rank #13, 715 births); most recent 2025 (rank #560, 5 births)
Births by year in Scotland
YearBoys
20255
202410
202312
202210
202114
202017
201920
201833
201737
201633

Top girl names · Top boy names in Scotland (2025)

Source: National Records of Scotland (NRS), Babies' First Names. © Crown copyright. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Data years: 1974 to 2025. Original data · Licence

Popularity in Northern Ireland

  • Boys: peak in 2009 (rank #133, 21 births); most recent 2023 (rank #348, 4 births)
Births by year in Northern Ireland
YearBoys
2025–
2024–
20234
20224
20217
20208
20199
20187
201712
201613

Top girl names · Top boy names in Northern Ireland (2025)

Source: Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA), Baby Names. © Crown copyright. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Data years: 1997 to 2025. Original data · Licence

Popularity in British Columbia (Canada)

  • Boys: peak in 1962 (rank #31, 142 births); most recent 2021 (rank #482, 7 births)
Births by year in British Columbia (Canada)
YearBoys
2023–
2022–
20217
202011
201914
20189
201710
201610
20155
201418

Top girl names · Top boy names in British Columbia (Canada) (2023)

Source: British Columbia Vital Statistics Agency, Most popular baby names for the past 100 years. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – British Columbia. Changes: names are shown in title case. Data years: 1924 to 2023. Original data · Licence