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Name Lineage

    The surname Alan

    A surname, carried by 1,423 people in the United States.

    Pronounced /ˈæl.ən/ 2 syllables Soundex A450 Also a first name

    Alan: #19,114 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#1,000Archer Alan #19,114, 1,423 people Alan: #19,114 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez Alan #19,114, 1,423 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Alan is more common than 88.2% of them.

    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.

    Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

    How common it is

    2010 US Census

    There were 1,423 people named Alan in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 216,968 Americans. That is up 3.7% since 2000, when the Census counted 1,372.

    #19,114
    rank among US surnames
    1,423
    people in 2010
    0.5
    per 100,000 Americans
    +3.7%
    change since 2000 (was #18,551)
    RankSurnamePeople1 in
    #19,105Rosenau1,424216,816
    #19,114Sereno1,423216,968
    #19,123Winebarger1,422217,121

    Who is named Alan

    Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

    64% of people named Alan identified as white (not Hispanic), 16% as Black (not Hispanic) and 10% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

    • White (not Hispanic) 64%
    • Black (not Hispanic) 16%
    • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 10%
    • Asian and Pacific Islander 7.1%
    • Two or more races 2.5%
    • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.5%

    Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

    Famous Alans

    1 notable person on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • Lori Alan
      American actress, born 1966

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Variant spellings

    Surnames that sound like Alan

    Alan has the Soundex code A450, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code A450.

    Questions

    Where does the surname Alan come from?
    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.
    How common is the surname Alan?
    1,423 people in the United States had the surname Alan in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 216,968 Americans. It ranked 19,114th of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname Alan?
    In the 2010 Census, 64% of people named Alan identified as white (not Hispanic), and 16% as Black (not Hispanic).
    Who is the most famous person named Alan?
    Lori Alan, American actress.
    Where is the surname Alan most common?
    Wikidata records people named Alan in the United States.
    How do you pronounce Alan?
    Alan is /ˈæl.ən/, 2 syllables.
    Is the surname Alan getting more or less common?
    More common. 1,372 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,423 in 2010, up 3.7%.
    What are other spellings of Alan?
    Allan, Allen and Alen.
    Is Alan also a first name?
    Yes. Alan is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.