# Alain (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/alain/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | French |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 3,986 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 3,980 / 6 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 41, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Borrowed from French Alain.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 6 | 8,175 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 63 | 2,105 |
| 2012 | 64 | 2,104 |
| 2013 | 74 | 1,903 |
| 2014 | 51 | 2,462 |
| 2015 | 57 | 2,301 |
| 2016 | 55 | 2,366 |
| 2017 | 55 | 2,347 |
| 2018 | 61 | 2,232 |
| 2019 | 49 | 2,627 |
| 2020 | 48 | 2,620 |
| 2021 | 47 | 2,695 |
| 2022 | 49 | 2,675 |
| 2023 | 51 | 2,579 |
| 2024 | 37 | 3,219 |
| 2025 | 44 | 2,836 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 4 | 2,357 |
| 1998 | 4 | 2,419 |
| 1999 | 4 | 2,425 |
| 2003 | 3 | 3,467 |
| 2005 | 3 | 3,849 |
| 2006 | 4 | 3,385 |
| 2007 | 4 | 3,589 |
| 2008 | 3 | 4,432 |
| 2013 | 3 | 4,685 |
| 2014 | 5 | 3,362 |
| 2015 | 4 | 3,908 |

## People named Alain

- Alain Delon, French actor (1935–2024)
- Alain Prost, French racing driver (born 1955)
- Alain Resnais, French film director (1922–2014)
- Alain Aspect, French physicist
- Alain Badiou, French writer and philosopher
- Alain Robbe-Grillet, French author and film director (1922–2008)
- Alain Juppé, 92nd Prime Minister of France (born 1945)
- Alain Poher, French politician (1909-1996)
- Alain Connes, French mathematician
- Alain de Benoist, French political theorist
- Alain Giresse, French football manager (born 1952)
- Alain Touraine, French sociologist (1925–2023)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.