Alan

See also: Appendix:Variations of "alan"

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈæl.ən/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ælən

Etymology 1

From Old Breton Alan, name of early Breton saints, of disputed origin and meaning; brought to England by Normans. It may have been the name of a Celtic deity, the brother of Bran, Welsh Alawn, Celtic Alun, ‘harmony’. As an early Irish name, perhaps connected with ail (“noble”). Compare French Alain.

Alternative forms

• Allan, Allen, Alen

Proper noun

Alan (plural Alans)

1. A male given name from the Celtic languages.
   • 1951, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Reeve's Tale”, in Nevill Coghill, transl., The Canterbury Tales: Translated into Modern English (Penguin Classics), Penguin Books, published 1977:

     He grabbed at Alan by his Adam's apple,
     And Alan grabbed him back in furious grapple
     And clenched his fist and bashed him on the nose.

   • 1910, P. G. Wodehouse, The Man Upstairs, and Other Stories, BiblioBazaar, LLC, published 2008, →ISBN, page 24:

     I could pose as an artist all right; so I took the studio. Also the name of Alan Beverley. My own is Bill Bates. I had often wondered what it would feel like to be called by some name like Alan Beverley or Cyril Trevelyan.

2. A surname.

Derived terms

• Al
• Alana, Alanna

 

Translations

male given name

• Basque: Alain (eu)
• Breton: Alan (br) m
• Catalan: Alà
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 艾倫／艾伦 (zh) (Àilún)

• Czech: Alan (cs) m
• Danish: Allan
• Dutch: Alan (nl), Alanus, Alain (nl)
• Faroese: Allan m
• Finnish: Allan (fi)
• Flemish: Alaan, Alain (nl)
• French: Alain (fr)
• Greek: Αλανός (el) (Alanós), Αλάν (el) (Alán)
• Irish: Ailín
• Italian: Alano (it)
• Latin: Alanus
• Manx: Aleyn
• Maori: Ārana
• Persian: آلن (âlen)
• Portuguese: Alan (pt) m
• Russian: А́лан (ru) m (Álan)
• Scottish Gaelic: Ailean
• Slovak: Alan
• Spanish: Alano (es) m; Alán (es) m
• Swedish: Allan (sv)
• Welsh: Alawn, Alun

Etymology 2

From Latin Alānī, from Ancient Greek Ἀλανοί (Alanoí), from Proto-Sarmatian *Allān.

Noun

Alan (plural Alans or Alani)

1. (historical) A member of a group of Sarmatian tribes, nomadic pastoralists of the 1st millennium AD who spoke an Eastern Iranian language derived from Scytho-Sarmatian and which in turn evolved into modern Ossetian.

Related terms

• Alania
• Alanic
• Roxolani

 

Translations

member of a Sarmatian tribe

• Ancient Greek: Ἀλανοί pl (Alanoí)
• Armenian: ալան (hy) (alan)

  Old Armenian: ալանք pl (alankʻ)

• Catalan: alà (ca) m, alana f
• Czech: Alan (cs) m
• Galician: alán m, alana f
• Georgian: ალანები (alanebi)
• German: (plural referring to the people) Alanen (de) m pl
• Latin: (plural referring to the people) Alānī m pl
• Ossetian: ала́н (alán)
• Persian: آلان (fa) (âlân)
• Portuguese: alano m
• Russian: ала́н (ru) m (alán)
• Spanish: alano (es) m
• Turkish: Alan (tr)

Etymology 3

Proper noun

Alan (plural Alans)

1. A male given name from Hebrew, variant of Elon.

Anagrams

• Anal, Lana, Nala, anal, anal., lana, nala

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈalan]

Proper noun

Alan m anim

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Alan

Declension

Declension of Alan (hard masculine animate)

	singular	plural
nominative	Alan	Alané, Alani
genitive	Alana	Alanů
dative	Alanovi, Alanu	Alanům
accusative	Alana	Alany
vocative	Alane	Alané, Alani
locative	Alanovi, Alanu	Alanech
instrumental	Alanem	Alany

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English Alan.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈa.lɐ̃/, /aˈlã/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈa.lɐn/

Proper noun

Alan m

1. a male given name from English, equivalent to English Alan

Related terms

• Alano
• alão

Slovak

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈaɫan/

Proper noun

Alan m pers (genitive singular Alana, nominative plural Alanovia, declension pattern of chlap)

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Alan

Declension

Declension of Alan

	singular	plural
nominative	Alan	Alanovia
genitive	Alana	Alanov
dative	Alanovi	Alanom
accusative	Alana	Alanov
locative	Alanovi	Alanoch
instrumental	Alanom	Alanmi

Further reading

• “Alan”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2024

Turkish

Proper noun

Alan

1. a male given name

Welsh

Alternative forms

• Alun
• Alawn

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈalan/

Proper noun

Alan m

1. a male given name, feminine equivalent Alana

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	h-prothesis
Alan	unchanged	unchanged	Halan
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

Heini Gruffudd (2010) Enwau Cymraeg i Blant / Welsh Names for Children‎^[1], Y Lolfa, →ISBN, page 12