Alan
Meaning
old Breton name of uncertain meaning, possibly "little rock" or connected to the Alans
Goes by Al
The story
Alan is an old Breton name whose meaning remains unsettled. One proposal reads it as little rock from a Brythonic source; another connects it with the Alans, an Iranian people who moved into Europe in late antiquity. The name was used in Brittany by the sixth century, and Breton settlers carried it into England after the Norman Conquest. Modern bearers stretched it in very different directions: Alan Turing helped found computer science, and Alan Shepard became the first American to travel into space. The US curve rises through the first half of the twentieth century, reaches its displayed high point in the 1950s, and then settles into a lower but persistent line through the 1970s to the 2020s. Alan's record is steadier than a single fashion, and its honest story is stronger for keeping the ancient fork open instead of choosing a false tidy meaning.
Alan's name family
One shared root links 4 names across 2 languages.
Shared root: a Breton name the Normans carried to England, of debated sense; "little rock" and "handsome" are both only traditional guesses
The family
More branches
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Alan peaked in the 1950s.
Popularity in Brazil
203,321 people · the #158 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 999 · median age 26
Among people named Alan living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1990s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 6,618 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Alan
People given the name Alan in the United States span the generations: the middle half were born anywhere from 1950 to 2009. Age is the one thing the name won't tell you.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Alan deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Alan truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Alan fits with your family’s names and surname.
Keep exploring
Nicknames for Alan · Chinese American baby names · Names of geniuses and inventors · Short names
Does Alan fit YOUR family?
nametree reads your family’s names and finds the ones that belong. Free, private, no ads.
Add Alan to your family’s tree →