Alan
Alan is ranked 167th among boys in 2024 (2,183 births). Its best rank was 40th, in 1951.
- Rank in 2024
- #167same as 2023
- Births in 2024
- 2,1830.13% of boys
- Peak year
- 19559,033 births
- Best rank
- #40in 1951
- Since 1882
- 362,464people given the name
The story in the numbers
361,388 boys have been named Alan in the United States since 1882, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1955, with 9,033 births — 0.44% of all boys recorded that year.
It is holding steady: its share of births has moved by less than half in either direction over ten years (rank 170 → 167).
Half of everyone given the name was born by 1962, and the 1950s alone account for 23%. It has spent 142 of 145 years in the top 1,000, 34 of them in the top 100.
It is overwhelmingly a boy’s name: 1,076 girls have also been given it, 0.30% of the total.
Rank among boys, year by year
By decade
| Decade | boys named Alan | |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 51 | |
| 1890s | 144 | |
| 1900s | 293 | |
| 1910s | 2,020 | |
| 1920s | 7,013 | |
| 1930s | 16,374 | |
| 1940s | 50,302 | |
| 1950s | 83,977 | |
| 1960s | 61,390 | |
| 1970s | 24,814 | |
| 1980s | 26,824 | |
| 1990s | 24,094 | |
| 2000s | 29,647 | |
| 2010s | 24,196 | |
| 2020s | 10,249 |
In 1955, its biggest year
Alan was the 43rd most given boy’s name that year. The top five boys’ names of 1955 were Michael, David, James, Robert and John. See all of 1955.
Names that rose and fell with Alan
Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.
- Dannypeak 1954
- Randpeak 1952
- Ronneypeak 1955
- Ronnypeak 1947
- Mickeypeak 1957
- Johnnypeak 1947
- Frankiepeak 1959
- Donniepeak 1952
Other spellings in the data
What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.