Masterpiece Generator Name Generator
How popular is the name Alan?
Births per year, rank history and how many Alans are alive today.
Alan (male), once a common boys' name, is now an uncommon choice for new babies in England and Wales, ranked 539th in 2025 with 72 given the name. This spelling of the name peaked in 1954, when around 8,700 babies were given the name, the 8th most popular that year. It has declined since 1954; the 2025 figure is roughly 1% of its peak. Numbers have been falling in recent years. At least 370,000 babies have been named Alan in England and Wales since 1904. Figures before 1996 are estimates. Alan is one spelling of a name also recorded as Allan; the combined figures below cover every spelling.
Across all spellings of the name, the Alan you are most likely to meet is around 71 years old. Half of all Alans born in England and Wales are between 59 and 77, and there are at least 240,000 of them alive today. If you walk into a room of 100 males, there's roughly a 55% chance that at least one of them will be called Alan.
How many babies are named Alan each year?
Includes all spellings: Alan, Allan. Figures before 1996 are estimates.
Where does the Alan spelling rank?
Where does the Allan spelling rank?
Where this data comes from
Figures from 1996 onwards are the Office for National Statistics' annual baby-name registrations for England and Wales, which record every name given to three or more babies in a year. Figures before 1996 are estimates: the ONS published only top-100 rankings at ten-year intervals back to 1904, so counts for those years are modelled from the rankings, calibrated against Douglas Galbi's long-run research into English name frequencies, and shown with an uncertainty band. Estimates of living bearers combine these birth figures with national life tables and ONS mid-year population estimates.
One limit worth naming: these figures count names as registered at birth. Anyone who changes their name later in life - including trans people, and anyone who adopts a different name by deed poll or simply by use - is not reflected here. Birth registrations record where a name began, not the name a person lives with.
Common questions
When was the name Alan most popular?
Alan peaked in 1954, when around 8,700 babies in England and Wales were given the name across all spellings.
How many people are called Alan?
At least 240,000 people named Alan in any spelling born in England and Wales are alive today.
How old is the typical Alan?
Most living Alans are between 59 and 77; the most common age is about 71.
Is Alan becoming more or less popular?
Declining: recent figures are a fraction of the 1954 peak.