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♂ Alan
What does Alan mean?
Alan 
▼ as a boys' name is pronounced AL-an. It is of Old German origin, and the meaning of Alan is "precious". From Adal. Also possibly derived from the Gaelic "ailin" meaning "little rock". Introduced into England by Breton followers of William the Conqueror, such as Alan, Earl of Brittany, who was rewarded for his services with vast estates in the newly conquered kingdom. Popular in the Middle Ages, with a boom around the 1950s influenced by the popularity of actor Alan Ladd. In Russia, the name is linked to the ancient warrior tribe Alans that is the origin of the Ossetians. Author Alan Paton; lyricist Alan Jay Lerner; playwright Alan Bennett; astronaut Alan Shepard; actors Alan Alda, Alan Cumming; poet Allen Ginsberg; basketball player Allen Iverson.
STARTS WITH Al-
ASSOCIATED WITH gaelic, little, rock, england, followers (servant), conqueror (king), earl (noble), estates (home), popular (famous), ancient (old), warrior
Variations
VARIANTS Ailean, Ailin, Al▼, Alain, Alair, Aland, Alann, Alano, Alanson, Alen, Alin, Allain, Allan▼, Allayne, Allen▼, Alley, Alleyn, Alleyne, Allie▼, Allin, Allon, Allyn, Alon, Alun, Alyn
SEE ALSO Elwyn
FEMININE FORM Alana
CREATIVE FORMS(male)
(female)
MIDDLE NAME PAIRINGS
Alan Bastian (A.B.), ..
How popular is Alan?
Alan is a very prominent first name for males (#91 out of 1220, Top 7%) and also a very prominent surname for both adults and children (#18551 out of 150436, Top 12%). (2000 U.S. DEMOGRAPHICS)
Alan reached its top position of #45 in the U.S. in the 1950s, and is currently at #172. (TOP BABY NAMES, 2018)
Which version is better?
Al, Alain, Alen, Allan (#778 A YEAR AGO), Allen (#421), Allie, Allyn and Elwyn are the prominent varying forms of Alan (#172). These forms of Alan were popular in the 1950s (USAGE OF 0.76%) and are now much less widespread (USAGE 0.18%, ▼76.1%), with versions like Alan becoming less trendy.
Similar Names
Alan▼ is pronounced similarly to Ailwyn, Aloin, Aluin, Alwin, Alwine, Alwyn, Alwynn, Aylwin, Eilan, Eilean, Eilian, Eilon, Elan, Elian▲, Elon▲, Elwin▼, Ilan, Ilon, Olen▼, Olin▼, Olyn, Waylan and Wylan. Other recommended sound-alike names are Aaran, Abad, Adan, Adar, Aden, Adlai, Adon, Aitan, Alanso, Alba, Albain, Alban, Aldan, Aldin, Alek, Alem, Alex▼, Alexan, Alfy, Alix, Altman, Alto, Alvan, Alvin▼, Aman, Amin, Amyn, Aran, Aren, Arlan, Arlen▼, Arman, Arnan, Asad, Ashlan, Aslan, Athan, Atlas▲, Azam, Chan, Dilan, Eran, Fran, Galan, Han, Ifan, Ivan▲, Jian, Kalan, Khan, Kian▲ and Shan. These names tend to be less commonly used than Alan.
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