Alan

maleUncertain (Brythonic or Alan-tribal)

Exact meaning uncertain — possibly Brythonic for 'little rock', or from the tribal name of the Alans, an Iranian people who migrated into Europe in the 4th-5th centuries. Used in Brittany from at least the 6th century, brought to England by Breton settlers after the Norman Conquest.

Origin: Uncertain (Brythonic or Alan-tribal)

Official popularity data is available for 7 regions, from 1946 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #9 in Republic of Ireland in 1980. See regions.

Alan: Recorded since 1946, it reached #9 in 1975, and it stood at #232 in 2025.

7registrars recorded it
258times a registrar ranked it
80years from first to last
#9highest recorded position
41groupings it qualifies for
29names it appears alongside

What stands out in Alan's record

Held a top-100 place for 63 years running. Names by top-100 run
Appears alongside 29 other names across 5 kinds of recorded relationship. All recorded relationships
Shares a published list with another name across 74 years. Longest shared records

AL-un/ˈæl.ən/

Compare Alan Run Name Checker on Alan

Data Confidence

Evidence: ModerateCompleteness: SubstantialEditorial review: 2026-07-21

Confidence in the evidencebehind this name's data — never a rating of the name itself, and never affected by how well it matches your preferences. How this is assessed

Because: backed by officially or academically authoritative sources, recently verified, popularity data covers multiple regions.

Source authority

Averaged from the real per-claim source-authority assessments already computed for this name's meaning/origin/pronunciation/popularity evidence.

Independent corroboration

Averaged from the real per-claim supporting-source counts already computed for this name's evidence.

See full evidence assessment (8 dimensions, 1 not yet tracked)

Source agreement

No recorded source disagreement for this name's meanings or origins.

Recency

Calculated from how long ago this record was last verified (2026-07-21), against a 270-day staleness threshold.

Geographic relevance

Calculated from the number of geographies with official popularity data (7) — broader official coverage means the evidence base is relevant to more of where the name is actually used.

Completeness

Calculated from how many of the expected data sections (variants, similar names, popularity, notable usage, IPA pronunciation) are actually populated for this name.

Direct observation vs. inference

Averaged from the real per-claim direct-observation-vs-inference ratios already computed for this name's evidence.

Identity & variant resolution quality

Cross-source identity and variant resolution requires HEKNO Knowledge, which isn't connected yet.

Name Characteristics

How these are calculated

Descriptive attributes of the name itself — not a confidence measurement, and not an overall quality score. Namewise doesn't approve or disapprove of names.

Pronunciation clarity

Editorial judgement of how consistently this name is pronounced correctly on first read, mapped from an easy/moderate/variable rating to a number. Describes the name — not a measure of evidence confidence.

Spelling simplicity

Calculated directly from the name's spelling: shorter names with fewer irregular letter clusters score higher. A disclosed formula, not an editorial opinion — and not a confidence measurement.

Recorded regional spread

Derived from how many geographies' official statistics record this name. It measures where the name is registered, not how well-known it feels to people living there.

International spread

Derived from the same official statistical coverage, scaled to reflect how widely the name crosses national datasets. Not a measure of how easily it is understood in another language.

Trend stability

Derived from the name's traditional/modern classification and its current popularity trend direction.

Overview

Origin: Uncertain (Brythonic or Alan-tribal)
Meaning: Exact meaning uncertain — possibly Brythonic for 'little rock', or from the tribal name of the Alans, an Iranian people who migrated into Europe in the 4th-5th centuries. Used in Brittany from at least the 6th century, brought to England by Breton settlers after the Norman Conquest.
Pronunciation: AL-un
Syllables: 2
Common nicknames: None recorded
Classification: Traditional & modern
Gender usage: male
Language family: Uncertain (Brythonic or Alan-tribal)

Popularity

Region

Falling

among boys in England and Wales · 1996–2025

View as table

England and Wales · Boys rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#163
1997	#179
1998	#196
1999	#232
2000	#262
2001	#270
2002	#239
2003	#296
2004	#275
2005	#241
2006	#251
2007	#226
2008	#226
2009	#193
2010	#205
2011	#199
2012	#178
2013	#185
2014	#187
2015	#170
2016	#181
2017	#214
2018	#255
2019	#312
2020	#298
2021	#352
2022	#472
2023	#464
2024	#592
2025	#539

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

FallingEngland and Wales · Boys

Recorded in official data among boys in Norway in 72 of the 80 years from 1946 to 2025.

In 2025: #232 among boys in Republic of Ireland, #274 among boys in Norway, #539 among boys in England and Wales.

Official data from 7 national registrars across 7 regions, 1946–2025 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1946
First recorded at #253 among boys in Norway in 1946 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
Norway · Boys
Most recent2025
Most recently recorded at #539 among boys in England and Wales, in 2025.
England and Wales · Boys

Alan appears in 6 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is Norway · Boys, which has ranked it in 72 years beginning in 1946, and has registered 875 births with the name.

Alan across 6 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Alan's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
Norway · Boys	#253 (1946)	#184 (2015)	#274 (2025)	72 of 80	875 (1946–2025)	32 (2015)
Republic of Ireland · Boys	#29 (1964)	#9 (1975)	#232 (2025)	62 of 62	19,656 (1964–2025)	815 (1980)
New Zealand · Boys	#15 (1954)	#15 (1954)	#98 (1988)	34 of 35	5,689 (1954–1988)	381 (1954)
New South Wales, Australia · Boys	#28 (1952)	#27 (1953)	#100 (1983)	32 of 32	6,399 (1952–1983)	474 (1952)
England and Wales · Boys	#163 (1996)	#163 (1996)	#539 (2025)	30 of 30	5,470 (1996–2025)	346 (2015)
Northern Ireland · Boys	#136 (1997)	#107 (1999)	#348 (2023)	27 of 27	332 (1997–2023)	21 (1999)

Alan by decade in Norway · Boys

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Alan in Norway · Boys, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1940s	26	3 of 10	9
1950s	25	4 of 10	6
1960s	71	9 of 10	8
1970s	86	10 of 10	9
1980s	115	10 of 10	12
1990s	105	10 of 10	11
2000s	146	10 of 10	15
2010sbusiest	217	10 of 10	22
2020s	84	6 of 10	14

Across Norway · Boys, the 2010s were its busiest decade, averaging 22 births a year.

See the names Norwayhas recorded the most births with →

Alan appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

What the record shows

Recorded by 7 registrars between 1946 and 2025, ranked in 78 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #9, first reached in 1975.

It held a top-100 place in 63 years, 63 of them consecutive.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 815 births, registered in Republic of Ireland in 1980.

1 registrar ranked it inside their own top 10.

Its record falls into 3 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 1 year.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1952, and 78 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Alan was ranked #9 in Republic of Ireland · Boys in 1975. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Alaiyah · #1685, 11y
Alaiza · #2449, 14y
Alana · #49, 46y
Alana-Rose · #2711, 15y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 7 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Helen · #9, 81y
Ian · #9, 77y
Richard · #9, 81y
Alexander · #8, 77y

Also first recorded in the 1940s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1940 and 1949.

Astrid · #9, 81y
Hanne · #9, 80y
Helen · #9, 81y
Ian · #9, 77y

Comparisons involving Alan

Existing comparison pages where Alan and another name were ranked in the same published list, in the same years, on the same scale. Each has its own evidence; none of them says the names are alike.

Longest shared records

Names ranked alongside Alan in the same published list across at least 25 years.

Gregory vs Alan
Gregory and Alan both fell over the same years in 3 registrars — New South Wales, Australia · Boys; New Zealand · Boys; Republic of Ireland · Boys. Each list is measured against its own starting position; the positions are never combined.
Gregory · Alan · 72 shared years, 1952–2025 · Moved together in several countries
Alan vs Keith
Alan and Keith both fell over the same years in 3 registrars — New South Wales, Australia · Boys; New Zealand · Boys; Republic of Ireland · Boys. Each list is measured against its own starting position; the positions are never combined.
Alan · Keith · 71 shared years, 1952–2025 · Moved together in several countries
Kevin vs Alan
Kevin and Alan both fell over the same years in 3 registrars — New South Wales, Australia · Boys; New Zealand · Boys; Republic of Ireland · Boys. Each list is measured against its own starting position; the positions are never combined.
Kevin · Alan · 74 shared years, 1952–2025 · Moved together in several countries

Closest long-running positions

Names that stayed close to Alan within one registrar's list over many years. A gap measured inside that list, never across registrars.

Alan vs Murray
Across 20 shared years in New Zealand · Boys, Alan and Murray averaged 4.5 places apart, ending at #93 and #100.
Alan · Murray · 20 shared years, 1954–1973 · Closest over the longest run
See the 1973 New Zealand ranking
Alan vs Graeme
Across 21 shared years in New Zealand · Boys, Alan and Graeme averaged 4.5 places apart, ending at #80 and #86.
Alan · Graeme · 21 shared years, 1954–1975 · Closest over the longest run
See the 1975 New Zealand ranking
Alan vs Raymond
Across 31 shared years in New South Wales, Australia · Boys, Alan and Raymond averaged 5.3 places apart, ending at #99 and #100.
Alan · Raymond · 31 shared years, 1952–1982 · Closest over the longest run
See the 1982 New South Wales, Australia ranking

Order changes

Pairs where Alan and another name exchanged position in a published list, taken as the final meaningful change.

Ben vs Alan
In Republic of Ireland · Boys, Ben moved into the top 50 at #38 in 1999 as Alan fell out of it to #53, having been #46 the year before.
Ben · Alan · 47 shared years, 1978–2025 · One took the other's place near the top
See the 1999 Republic of Ireland ranking
George vs Alan
In New South Wales, Australia · Boys, George moved into the top 50 at #38 in 1965 as Alan fell out of it to #51, having been #45 the year before.
George · Alan · 32 shared years, 1952–1983 · One took the other's place near the top
See the 1965 New South Wales, Australia ranking

Alan and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,577 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Alan without appearing here.

Alan moved ahead of

Stig
In 2004 they stood at #368 and #341 in Norway · Boys; by 2005 that had become #243 and #559.
Arild
In 2004 they stood at #368 and #312 in Norway · Boys; by 2005 that had become #243 and #518.
Egil
In 2004 they stood at #368 and #288 in Norway · Boys; by 2005 that had become #243 and #485.
Harry
In 1979 they stood at #599 and #446 in Norway · Boys; by 1980 that had become #417 and #634.

Moved ahead of Alan

Markus
In 1969 they stood at #320 and #427 in Norway · Boys; by 1970 that had become #557 and #305.
Ulrik
In 1987 they stood at #335 and #373 in Norway · Boys; by 1988 that had become #494 and #245.
Ludvig
In 1992 they stood at #334 and #408 in Norway · Boys; by 1993 that had become #492 and #277.
Herman
In 1987 they stood at #335 and #437 in Norway · Boys; by 1988 that had become #494 and #280.

Moved the opposite way to Alan

Conor
Between 1964 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Alan went from #29 to #232 while Conor went from #56 to #16.
Liam
Between 1964 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Alan went from #29 to #232 while Liam went from #54 to #7.
Leon
Between 1968 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Alan went from #18 to #232 while Leon went from #207 to #73.
Dylan
Between 1969 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Alan went from #15 to #232 while Dylan went from #246 to #69.

Moved the same way as Alan

Alfred
Between 1964 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Alan went from #29 to #232 and Alfred from #134 to #286.
Frank
Between 1964 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Alan went from #29 to #232 and Frank from #164 to #286.
George Compare
Between 1964 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Alan went from #29 to #232 and George from #52 to #112.
Tobias
Between 1965 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Alan went from #27 to #232 and Tobias from #222 to #676.

Meaning & Origin

VerifiedSource: Behind the Name.Confidence: medium.

Uncertain (Brythonic or Alan-tribal)

VerifiedSource: Behind the Name.Confidence: medium.

Other names with a researched meaning and origin →

Where Alan is officially recorded

7 official registrars have recorded Alan, between 1946 and 2025, in 78 of those 80 years. Each registrar publishes for its own population on its own methodology, so the positions below are each one country's own ranking and are not comparable with one another.

Registrar	Recorded	Years	Its own highest position
Norway	1946–2025	72	#184 in 2015
New South Wales, Australia	1952–1983	32	#27 in 1953
New Zealand	1954–1988	34	#15 in 1954
Republic of Ireland	1964–2025	62	#9 in 1975
England and Wales	1996–2025	30	#163 in 1996
Northern Ireland	1997–2023	27	#107 in 1999
Scotland	2024	1	#352 in 2024

Its high point came 71 years earlier in New South Wales, Australia (1953) than in Scotland (2024).

Variants

No spelling variants or nicknames recorded yet.

Similar Names

No similar names recorded yet for this name.

Similarity is a demonstration score — see methodology.

Spelling

Spelling simplicity

Calculated directly from the name's spelling — see Name Characteristics above.

No commonly used alternate spellings recorded.

Pronunciation

AL-un/ˈæl.ən/

Syllables: 2
Ease: easy

VerifiedSource: Behind the Name.Confidence: medium.

Where Alan Is Recorded

National statistical agencies have recorded Alan in these places. This shows where the name is used — not where it comes from, and not that it carries particular cultural significance there.

New South Wales, AustraliaEngland and WalesNorthern IrelandScotlandRepublic of IrelandNorwayNew Zealand

Notable Usage

No safely-sourced notable usage recorded for this name yet.

Sibling & Surname Compatibility

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Alan

Alan at a glance

What stands out in Alan's record

Overview

Popularity

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Alan across 6 official records

Alan by decade in Norway · Boys

Alan appears in

What the record shows

Names published alongside Alan

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1940s

Comparisons involving Alan

Longest shared records

Closest long-running positions

Order changes

Alan and the names beside it

Alan moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Alan

Moved the opposite way to Alan

Moved the same way as Alan

Meaning & Origin

Where Alan is officially recorded

Variants

Similar Names

Spelling

Pronunciation

Where Alan Is Recorded

Notable Usage

Sibling & Surname Compatibility

Alan at a glance

What stands out in Alan's record

Alan across 6 official records

Alan by decade in Norway · Boys

Alan appears in

What the record shows

Names published alongside Alan

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1940s

Comparisons involving Alan

Longest shared records

Closest long-running positions

Order changes

Alan and the names beside it

Alan moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Alan

Moved the opposite way to Alan

Moved the same way as Alan