Alan en · PROPN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- /ˈæl.ən/
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
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, Alun. As an early Irish name, perhaps connected with ail (“noble”). Compare French Alain.
Meanings
-
A male given name from the Celtic languages.
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.
1910, P. G. Wodehouse, The Man Upstairs, and Other Stories, BiblioBazaar, LLC, published 2008, →ISBN, page 24: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.
1951, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Reeve's Tale”, in Nevill Coghill, transl., The Canterbury Tales: Translated into Modern English (Penguin Classics), Penguin Books, published 1977:
- A surname.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alen | alternative | lexicographic | |
| Alans | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| Allan | alternative | lexicographic | |
| Allen | alternative | lexicographic |
Deriveds
Translations (33)
es Alano (male given name) · nl Alaan (male given name) · br Alan (male given name) · nl Alan (male given name) · mi Ārana (male given name) · cy Alawn (male given name) · mi Ārena (male given name) · el Αλανός (male given name) · es Alán (male given name) · el Αλάν (male given name) · fi Allan (male given name) · cy Alun (male given name) · ca Alà (male given name) · fa آلن (male given name) · nl Alain (male given name) · ga Ailín (male given name) · cs Alan (male given name) · fr Alain (male given name) · la Alanus (male given name) · da Allan (male given name) · nl Alain (male given name) · eu Alain (male given name) · gd Ailean (male given name) · kk Алан (male given name) · gv Aleyn (male given name) · pt Alan (male given name) · ru А́лан (male given name) · nl Alanus (male given name) · cmn 艾倫 /艾伦 (male given name) · sv Allan (male given name) · it Alano (male given name) · fo Allan (male given name) · sk Alan (male given name)