Alan
A boys' name that crested in the 2010s and has been easing off since, though parents still reach for it more often than they do the average name. Its uncertain roots leave Polish name books listing three meanings at once: handsome, a little rock, harmony.
Alan Pronunciation
Alan is pronounced AH-lahn (/ˈalan/).
What Alan means
Where Alan comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Alan is a name whose beginning stays open. Some scholars connect it to the Alani, a people of horsemen from the Iranian steppe who pushed west during the great migrations. Others look to Breton and old Celtic roots. The dictionaries do not agree. That is why the origin sits under the plain label "other."
From those Celtic roots come the meanings that Polish name books still record: handsome, a little rock, harmony. One of the earliest famous bearers was Alan Rufus, a Breton lord who came to England with William the Conqueror in 1066 and became one of the wealthiest men in the kingdom. His name traveled with the Normans and settled into English, then much later reached Poland.
Picture the moment a teacher reads a class register in a Polish school and stops on Alan, a boy who lifts his hand. The name is short and firm to say. It gives a child something solid to answer to, a small plain word that Polish books gloss as skała, a little rock.
When Alan celebrates name day
Alan appears 2 times in the Polish name day calendar, 1 of them as a main name, the first on 14 October.
The days Polish calendars list this name on. By custom you celebrate one of them, usually the first after your birthday.
Rarer dates. Only the most complete calendars add this name on these days. Most skip them, so hardly anyone celebrates then.
How many people are named Alan
1 in 406 men in Poland is named Alan. 52,536 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #184 among male names.
Alan's popularity over time
489 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #110 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2000.
Where parents choose Alan
Alan is most popular in Holy Cross, 44% above the national average (300 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Kuyavian-Pomeranian (+42%) and Lubusz (+20%). It is least common in Podlaskie and Masovian, 20% and 18% below average respectively.
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Holy Cross
+44%1 in 185 babies
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian
+42%1 in 188 babies
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Lubusz
+20%1 in 221 babies
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Podlaskie
−20%1 in 331 babies
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Masovian
−18%1 in 323 babies
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Silesian
−11%1 in 300 babies
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Holy Cross+44% 300 born1 in 185 babies+44%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian+42% 583 born1 in 188 babies+42%
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Lubusz+20% 225 born1 in 221 babies+20%
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Łódź+17% 556 born1 in 228 babies+17%
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Warmian-Masurian+13% 304 born1 in 236 babies+13%
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West Pomeranian+11% 354 born1 in 238 babies+11%
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Subcarpathian+9% 495 born1 in 244 babies+9%
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Opole+4% 181 born1 in 255 babies+4%
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Greater Poland+3% 835 born1 in 258 babies+3%
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Lublin±0% 388 born1 in 265 babies±0%
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Lower Silesian−5% 561 born1 in 280 babies−5%
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Lesser Poland−8% 782 born1 in 290 babies−8%
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Pomeranian−8% 510 born1 in 289 babies−8%
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Silesian−11% 758 born1 in 300 babies−11%
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Masovian−18% 1,097 born1 in 323 babies−18%
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Podlaskie−20% 199 born1 in 331 babies−20%
Alan as a middle name
Alan is a first name for 52,536 men in Poland and a middle name for another 6,025, a 90/10 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 123rd, between Leonard (6,040) and Remigiusz (5,954).
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#121 Konstanty6,126
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#122 Leonard6,040
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#123 Alan6,025
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#124 Remigiusz5,954
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#125 Ksawery5,466