Alan (given name)

Alan is a masculine given name in t he English language.

Alan

Pronunciation /ˈælən/[1]

Gender Male

Language(s) English, Old Breton, Celtic, Norman French

Other names

Variant form(s) Allan, Allen, Allyn, Alen, Alin

Short form(s) Al, Allie, Ally, Ali

See also Alun

Etymology and early history

Alan is a masculine given name in t he English language.[2] The name is believed by scholars to
have been brought to England by people from Brit t any, in t he 11t h cent ury; lat er t he name
spread nort h into Scot land and west into Ireland.[3] In Ireland and Scot land t here are Gaelic
forms of t he name which may, or may not , be et ymologically relat ed to t he name int roduced
by t he Bretons.

In Breton, alan is a colloquial t erm for a fox and may originally have meant "deer", making it
cognat e wit h Old Welsh alan (cf. Canu Aneirin, B2.28, line 1125: "gnaut i-lluru alan buan bithei",
"it was usual for him to be fleet like a deer"[4]), Modern Welsh elain (plural alanedd) "young
deer" (and t he plant name alan "colt sfoot , elecampane"), coming from a Brit tonic root *alan-
or *elan (also at t est ed in Celt iberian in personal names such as Elanus, Elaesus, and Ela[5]),
ult imat ely derived from Proto-Indo-European *(H1)el-Hn- "deer, hind" (perhaps denot ing an
animal - generally cervids - wit h red or brown fur).[6][7][8]

Anot her explanat ion of t he name is t hat t he modern English Alan, and French Alain, are derived
from t he name of t he Alans.[9] The Alans were an Iranian people who lived nort h of t he
Caucasus Mount ains in what is today Russia,[10] and who were known to Classical writ ers in
t he 1st cent ury BC.[9] According to historian Bernard Bachrach, t he Alans set t led in part s of
what is today France, including Brit t any, in t he Early Middle Ages. Bachrach st at ed t hat t he
use of forms of t he name in given names, surnames, and place names, is evidence of t he
cont inued influence of t he Alans on t he Gaulish, Breton and Frankish peoples.[11]

The Breton name Alan can not be a direct loan from t he et hnic name of t he Alans (rendered
as Alānī or Halānī in Lat in, from Scyt ho-Sarmat ian *Al[l]ān-, derived from Old Iranian *aryāna,
"noble people")[12] because t he long vowel in t he second syllable would produce Old Breton -
o-, Middle Breton -eu- and Modern Breton -e- and not t he at t est ed spelling wit h an -a-.[13][14]

In Ireland and Gaelic-speaking Scot land, Alan may also be an Anglicizat ion of an Irish word
(wit h diminut ive suffix) meaning "rock".[2] For example, t he modern Irish ailín means "lit t le
rock".[15] Similarly, according to Pat rick Woulfe, t he Irish name Ailín is derived from diminut ive
ail, which means "noble", "rock". Woulfe st at ed t hat t his name is a pet form of some ot her
name beginning wit h t he first element Ail-.[16][17] Forms of t he Gaelic name appear in early
Brit ish records; t he Lat in form Ailenus was recorded by Adomnán (died 704).[3][18][note 1]
Anot her similar-looking word in Irish is álainn and Scot t ish Gaelic àlainn, which means
"beaut iful".[21][22][23]

Variations of the name

There are numerous variat ions of t he name in English. The variant s Allan and Allen are
generally considered to be derived from t he surnames Allan and Allen.[2] The form Allan is
used mainly in Scot land and Nort h America.[24] In England, t he given names Allan and Allen are
considerably less popular t han Alan. However, in America all t hree are generally about t he
same in popularit y.[2]

Alun is an old masculine given name in t he Welsh language; alt hough it is not direct ly relat ed
to Alan (it is derived from Proto-Celt ic *alouno- meaning eit her "nourishing" or
"wandering"[25][26]), today it is generally used as a variant form of t he English name. An earlier
bearer of t his name is Alun of Dyfed, a charact er in t he Mabinogion. The name became
popular in modern t imes when it was adopt ed as a bardic name by John Blackwell, a 19t h-
cent ury Welsh poet .[27]

Short forms

The short form of Alan is Al.[2] /æl/[28]

This name is a short form of numerous ot her et ymologically unrelat ed names t hat begin wit h
t his syllable.[2] Not e also t he Cornish hypocorist ic form Talan.

Feminine forms

There are numerous feminine forms of Alan. The form Alana is a Lat inat e feminisat ion of t he
name. Variant of Alana include: Alanah, Alanna, Alannah, and Allana.[2] Anot her feminine form is
Alaina, derived from t he French Alain; a variant of t his feminine name is Alayna.[2] A variant
form of Alaina is Alaine, alt hough it can also be a variant form of t he et ymologically unrelat ed
Elaine.[2]

In other languages

Croat ian: Alan, Alen, masculine. Alina, feminine.

Czech: Alan, masculine. Alena, feminine.

Danish: Allan, masculine.

English: Alaina, Alaine, Alayna, Alana, Alanah, Alanna, Alannah, Allana, feminine.[2]

Estonian: Allan, masculine.

Faroese: Allan, masculine.

French: Alain, masculine.[29]

Irish: Ailín, masculine.[30]

Irish: Ailéne, masculine.[3][31]

Kurdish: Alan, masculine. The flag bearer.

Lat in: Alanus, masculine.

Lat in: Ailenus, masculine, t he Lat in form of Ailín.[16]

Old Breton: Alan, masculine.[31]

 Old French: Alain/Alein, masculine.[31]

Osset ian: Alan, masculine.

Norman French: Alan, masculine.[18]

Romanian: Alin, masculine. Alina, feminine.

Scot t ish Gaelic: Ailean, masculine.[32]

Spanish: Alano, Alán, masculine.

Welsh: Alun, masculine.

Indonesian: Alan, masculine.

Popularity and use

The name was brought to England by Bretons who took part in t he Norman Invasion in t he
mid-11t h cent ury. Forms of t he name were in use much earlier in what is today Brit t any,
France. An early figure who bore t he name was St Alan, a 5t h-cent ury bishop of Quimper. This
saint became a cult figure in t he Brit t any during t he Middle Ages. Anot her early bearer of t he
name was St Alan, a 6t h-cent ury Cornish saint , who has a church dedicat ed to his memory in
Cornwall (for example see St Allen, a civil parish in Cornwall named aft er t his saint ).[15]

Today t he use of t he given name (and it s variant s) is due to it s popularit y among t he Bretons
who import ed t he name to England, to Cornwall, and lat er to Ireland.[2][15] The Bretons formed
a significant part of William, Duke of Normandy's army at t he Bat t le of Hast ings in 1066. Lat er
many Bretons were grant ed lands t hroughout William's freshly conquered kingdom. The most
not able Breton Alan, Earl of Richmond, a cadet of t he ducal house of Brit t any, who was
awarded wit h a large swat h of lands in England - specifically lands in what is today
Lincolnshire and East Anglia. The Breton charact er in many English count ies can be t raced
t hrough Breton personal names st ill in use in t he 12t h cent uries. The name ranked 8t h in
popularit y in Lincolnshire in t he 12t h cent ury, where it was about even wit h Simon and more
numerous t han Henry.[31] Early occurrences of t he name in Brit ish records include: Alanus in
1066 (in t he Domesday Book); and Alain in 1183.[31] The name became popular in Scot land in
part t hrough t he St ewart s.[18] This family descends from Alan fit z Flaad, an Anglo-Breton
knight , who possessed lands in what is modern day Shropshire, England.

See also

Allan (name)
 Notes

1. The name appears within Adomnán's Vita Columbae as part of a patronym: "Colman Canis, filius
Aileni".[19] This name is rendered into Old Irish as Colmán Cú mac Ailéni. Colmán belonged to the
royal dynasty of Mugdorna; his brother, Mael Dúin, king of Mugdorna, died in 611.[20]

References

1. Alan (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Alan) , Dictionary.com, retrieved 20 November 2010

which cited: Dictionary.com Unabridged, Random House

2. Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006), A Dictionary of First Names, Oxford
Paperback Reference (2nd ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 6, ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1

3. Macbain, Alexander (1911), An etymological dictionary of the Gaelic language (https://archive.org/d

etails/etymologicaldict00macbuoft) , Stirling: Eneas Mackay, p. 396

4. Koch, John, The Gododdin of Aneirin, Celtic Studies Publications, 1997, p. 9

5. Kruta, Venceslas, Los celtas, EDAF, 1977, p. 195

6. Fleuriot, Léon, Les origines de la Bretagne: l'émigration, Payot, 1982, p. 204

7. Schrijver, Peter, Studies in British Celtic Historical Phonology, Rodopi, 1995, p. 78-79.

8. Adams, Douglas Q., "Designations of the Cervidae in Proto-Indo-European", in: Journal of Indo-
European Studies, vol 13, 1985, pp. 269-282.

9. Bailey, H. W. (15 December 1984), Alans (http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/alans-an-ancient-irani

an-tribe-of-the-northern-scythian-saka-sarmatian-massagete-group-known-to-classical-writers-fro
m) , Encyclopædia Iranica (www.iranica.com), retrieved 20 November 2010

10. Waldman, Carl; Mason, Catherine (2006), Encyclopedia of European Peoples, New York: Facts on
File, pp. 12–14, ISBN 0-8160-4964-5

11. Bachrach, Bernard S. (1973), A History of the Alans in the West, Minneapolis: University of
Minnesota Press, ISBN 0-8166-0678-1

12. Alemany, Agustí, Sources on the Alans: A Critical Compilation, Handbook of Oriental Studies, section
8, vol. 5. Leiden, BRILL, 2000, p. 1ff.

13. Schrijver, Peter, Studies in British Celtic Historical Phonology, Rodopi, 1995, p. 209ff

14. Jackson, Kenneth H., A Historical Phonology of Breton, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1967,
pp. 127-140.

15. Learn about the family history of your surname (http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/default.asp

x?) , Ancestry.com, retrieved 20 November 2010 which cited: Dictionary of American Family Names,
Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4 for the surname "Allen".
16. Ailín (http://www.libraryireland.com/names/men/ailin-allen.php) , Library Ireland
(www.libraryireland.com), retrieved 22 November 2010 which is a transcription of: Woulfe, Patrick
(1923), Irish Names and Surnames

17. Ó hAilín (http://www.libraryireland.com/names/oh/o-hailin.php) , Library Ireland

(www.libraryireland.com), retrieved 22 November 2010 which is a transcription of: Woulfe, Patrick
(1923), Irish Names and Surnames

18. Black, George Fraser (1946), The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning, and History, New
York: New York Public Library, p. 14

19. Medieval Sourcebook: Adamnan: Life of St. Columba, [Latin Text: Book I and Book II, cc 1-30] (htt
p://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/columba-l.html) , Internet Medieval Source Book
(www.fordham.edu)

20. Sharpe, Richard, ed. (1995), Life of St Columba, Penguin classics, Penguin, p. 305, ISBN 978-0-14-
044462-9

21. Mark, Colin (2006), The Gaelic-English Dictionary, London: Routledge, p. 32, ISBN 0-203-22259-8

22. Learner's English-Irish Dictionary (https://archive.org/details/learnersenglishi00osiouoft) , Dublin:

Educational Company of Ireland, Ltd, c. 1900, p. 8

23. Harrison, Henry (1996), Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary
(Reprint ed.), Genealogical Publishing Company, p. 6, ISBN 978-0-8063-0171-6

24. Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006), A Dictionary of First Names, Oxford
Paperback Reference (2nd ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 10, ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1

25. Lambert, Pierre-Yves, La langue gauloise, Editions Errance, 1994, p. 42.

26. Delamarre, Xavier, Dictionnaire de la langue galoise, 2nd ed., Editions Errance, 2003, p. 37.

27. Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006), A Dictionary of First Names, Oxford
Paperback Reference (2nd ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 12, 424, ISBN 978-0-19-
861060-1

28. Al (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Al) , Dictionary.com, retrieved 20 November 2010 which

cited: Dictionary.com Unabridged, Random House

29. Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006), A Dictionary of First Names, Oxford
Paperback Reference (2nd ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 302, ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1

30. Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006), A Dictionary of First Names, Oxford
Paperback Reference (2nd ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 341, ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1

31. Reaney, Percy Hilde; Wilson, Richard Middlewood (2006), A Dictionary of English Surnames (3rd ed.),
London: Routledge, pp. 40–41, ISBN 0-203-99355-1

32. Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006), A Dictionary of First Names, Oxford
Paperback Reference (2nd ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 399, ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1
Retrieved from
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