Male name
Alan
5,470 births (England and Wales, 1996–2025), peaking in 2015. Expression number: 1.
Origin
From Old Breton Alan, name of early Breton 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.From Wiktionary, entry “Alan”, text under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Do you know a Alan?
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How many babies received it
From the official birth registers.
In England and Wales
Peak in 2015: 346 births. 5,470 births from 1996 to 2025. A name given mostly in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. It is still given: 433 births from 2021 to 2025.
Source: Office for National Statistics, Baby names in England and Wales, Open Government Licence v3.0.
In the United States
Peak in 1955: 9,052 births. 364,389 births from 1880 to 2025. A name given mostly in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. At its peak, it ranked 40th among boys' names in 1951. It really came into use around 1895. It is still given: 10,204 births from 2021 to 2025.
Source: Social Security Administration, Popular Baby Names, public domain.
In Ireland
Peak in 1980: 815 births. 19,656 births from 1964 to 2025. A name given mostly in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. At its peak, it ranked 9th among boys' names in 1975. It is still given: 110 births from 2021 to 2025.
Source: Central Statistics Office, Irish Babies' Names, CC BY 4.0.
Elsewhere in the world
The name in the birth records of the 10 countries we track. The period covered varies from country to country.
| Country | Births | Period | Best rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| France | 21,105 | 1900–2025 | 87th in 1999 |
| Argentina | 19,207 | 2012–2023 | — |
| Switzerland | 2,649* | 1915–2025 | — |
| Quebec | 484 | 1980–2025 | — |
| Austria | 273 | 1984–2025 | — |
| Berlin | 206 | 2012–2023 | — |
| Belgium | 75 | 2014–2023 | — |
* These are the people living in the country, counted by year of birth, not the number of births.
Source: INSEE, Fichier des prénoms, Etalab Open Licence 2.0; RENAPER, Nombres propios en Argentina, CC BY 4.0 (the registry doesn't record sex); Federal Statistical Office, First names of the population by year of birth, free use with attribution; Retraite Québec, Banque de prénoms, CC BY 4.0; Statistik Austria, Vornamen, CC BY 4.0; Open Data Berlin, Häufige Vornamen, CC BY 3.0 DE (every name a child carries, not only the first); Statbel, first names of newborns, CC BY 4.0 (one total for the whole period, no yearly breakdown).
The numbers of the name
Each letter has a value: A = 1, B = 2… I = 9, then J = 1 again (Pythagorean method). We add them up, then reduce to a single digit, except 11, 22 and 33.
■ vowel · ■ consonant
Expression
All the letters: talents, the way you act.
1
initiative, independence, beginnings
1 + 3 + 1 + 5 = 10 → 1
Soul
The vowels: what drives you deep down.
2
cooperation, sensitivity, connection
1 + 1 = 2
Personality
The consonants: what others notice first.
8
power, achievement, your relationship with money
3 + 5 = 8
- Digits missing from the name
- 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9
- Most frequent digit
- 1 · initiative, independence, beginnings
The meaning of the numbers comes from numerological tradition; it isn't a measure of your personality. A full portrait needs your first and middle names, your last name at birth, and your date of birth. How we calculate
Your name and theirs
The number of each name, and the number of the bond, which comes from adding them together. A symbolic game: what your two names say together, to be read as a metaphor, not as a verdict on your relationship.