Alan
Meaning of Alan
Alan is an old Breton name of uncertain origin. It may come from a Celtic word meaning 'little rock' or 'handsome', or from the name of the Alans, an ancient nomadic people who migrated into western Europe. Breton followers of William the Conqueror brought it to England in the 11th century. It is pronounced AL-uhn.
Well-known bearers include the English mathematician Alan Turing, a pioneer of computer science, and the astronaut Alan Shepard, who in 1961 became the first American in space.
In the U.S., Alan rose for decades to peak at 40th in 1951, and the most babies, 9,037, were named Alan in 1955. It left the top 100 in 1972 and has not returned, ranking 191st in 2025 with 1,915 babies.
Pronunciation
English
- Pronunced as AL-uhn (/ˈælən/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
States Popularity Chart
Notable People Named Alan
| Alan Moore is an acclaimed English comics author behind Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell, widely regarded as one of the best and known for occasionally using pseudonyms. |
| Alan Turing was an English mathematician and pioneer of computer science who formalized algorithms and computation with the Turing machine and is widely considered the father of the field. |
| Alan Lomax was an American ethnomusicologist whose vast folk music field recordings helped preserve traditions and sparked the American and British folk revivals, including thousands archived at the Library of Congress. |
| Alan Shepard was an American astronaut who became the first American in space in 1961 and the fifth and oldest person to walk on the Moon in 1971. |
| Alan Watts was a British and American writer and speaker who popularized Buddhist, Taoist, and Hindu philosophy in the West. |
| Alan Rickman was an English actor and director with a distinctive deep voice, RADA trained and an RSC member, whose turn as Valmont in Les Liaisons Dangereuses earned a Tony nomination. |
| Alan Sugar is a British business magnate and TV personality, also an author, politician, and political adviser. |
| Alan Alda is an American actor and multiple Emmy and Golden Globe winner best known as Hawkeye Pierce on the CBS series MASH, for which he also wrote and directed many episodes. |
| Alan Menken is an American composer and conductor who has won eight Oscars, a Tony, eleven Grammys, seven Golden Globes, and a Daytime Emmy, achieving the rare competitive EGOT. |
| Alan Eugene Jackson is an American country singer-songwriter known for neotraditional country and a prolific catalog, including 21 studio albums plus Christmas, gospel, and greatest hits releases. |
| Alan Cumming is a Scottish actor celebrated on stage and screen, a Tony winner for Cabaret and an Olivier winner for Accidental Death of an Anarchist, with BAFTA and Emmy honors. |
| Alan Hovhaness was an American composer and one of the most prolific of the 20th century, with 67 symphonies and over 500 surviving works. |
| Alan LaVern Bean was an American astronaut and painter, best known as the fourth person to walk on the Moon. |
| Alan Tudyk is an American actor known for Firefly and Tucker and Dale vs Evil and for voicing characters in many Walt Disney Animation Studios films since 2012. |
| Alan Ritchson is an American actor who debuted as Aquaman on Smallville, starred in Blue Mountain State and Blood Drive, played Hawk on Titans, and now leads Amazon's Reacher as Jack Reacher. |
