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.
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 Alan is most popular
Alan is most popular in Świętokrzyskie, 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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Świętokrzyskie300 boys born+44%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian583 boys born+42%
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Lubusz225 boys born+20%
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Łódź556 boys born+17%
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Warmian-Masurian304 boys born+13%
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West Pomeranian354 boys born+11%
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Subcarpathian495 boys born+9%
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Opole181 boys born+4%
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Greater Poland835 boys born+3%
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Lublin388 boys born0%
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Lower Silesian561 boys born−5%
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Lesser Poland782 boys born−8%
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Pomeranian510 boys born−8%
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Silesian758 boys born−11%
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Masovian1,097 boys born−18%
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Podlaskie199 boys born−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
6,126Konstanty
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122
6,040Leonard
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1236,025Alan
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124
5,954Remigiusz
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125
5,466Ksawery
When Alan celebrates name day
Alan appears 1 time in the Polish name day calendar. The main date is 14 October.