ninan.org

Alan

Boys' name · Mid-century

Living in the US
~277,400 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#191 among boys
Births in 2025
1,915 364,389 since 1880
Typical age
56 years, median

Alan popularity over time

Alan rank by birth year, 1882–2025Alan ranked #837 in 1882 and #191 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #40, in 1951.#100#1,000#191best #40 in 195118901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1882–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

More children were named Alan in 1955 than in any other year — 9,052 of them. The name does not appear in the data until 1882. Alan has spent 34 years inside the national top 100.

As of 2025 the name sits at #191, with 1,915 births that year. The ten-year change is -23%. It slipped 24 places against the previous year.

Babies named Alan per yearPeaks at 9,052 births in 1955.9,052 in 1955018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Alan?

About 277,400 people named Alan are alive in the United States today. That is out of 364,389 recorded births since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Alan?

The typical living Alan is 56 years old. Most living bearers were born in the 1950s. By the site’s era rules that makes Alan a mid-century name.

Your Alan

Ages of living people named AlanHalf of living Alans are older than 56 and half younger.median 56020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Alan is most common

Relative to births, Nevada carries 1.9× the national share of Alans. California, New Mexico and Texas follow.

Where Alan is used more than average5 states use the name Alan more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: 1.9× the national rateNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: 1.8× the national rateCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: 1.5× the national rateAZNew Mexico: 1.8× the national rateNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: not over-representedDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: 1.8× the national rateTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Alan is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
Nevada 262 1.9×
California 4,343 1.8×
New Mexico 141 1.8×
Texas 3,756 1.8×
Arizona 592 1.5×

Alan in England and Wales

In England and Wales, Alan ranked #539 in 2025 on 72 births. That is 53% lower than five years earlier.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Alan comes from

From Alan, name of early saints, of disputed origin and meaning; brought to England by Normans. It may have been the name of a Celtic deity, the brother of Bran, Welsh Alawn, Alun. As an early Irish name, perhaps connected with ail (“noble”). Compare French Alain.

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Alan

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Alan Turing English computer scientist 1912–1954 189
Alan Rickman British actor and director 1946–2016 93
Alan Shearer English footballer 1970 75
Alan Arkin American actor, filmmaker 1934–2023 74
Alan García President of Peru (1985–1990 and 2006–2011) 1949–2019 74
Alan Shepard American astronaut, first American in space, lunar explorer 1923–1998 71
Alan Moore British comic book author 1953 69
Alan Greenspan American economist and financial advisor 1926–2026 67
Photo credits (8)

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Names similar to Alan

Matched by sound and spelling inside this dataset, then ordered by total recorded births. This is not a claim about shared etymology.

Same feel, less common

The same matches, limited to names given at most half as often as Alan was in 2025.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/alan.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).