Boy · Breton, through English
Allen
Say it: AL-un
Meaning
A variant of Alan, a Breton name of uncertain meaning, also an English surname.
Uncertainseveral explanations, none settled.
Common in the US throughout the 1900s.
Its wave through time
Timeless: in steady use for over a century
In the United States
- 270,955 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 1947, about 1 in 360 boys
- 644 babies in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Alan, Allan
Famous bearers
- Allen Ginsberg, American poet
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
- National census records of the 19th and 20th centuries
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.