MEANING & HISTORY
What does Allan mean?
Allan is a spelling of Alan, a name documented in Brittany from an early period and carried into England by Breton settlers. Its ultimate origin is disputed.
Proposed explanations include a Celtic rock-related formation and a connection with the Alans, an Iranian people. The doubled l does not create a separate meaning. The secure explanation is the established Alan-name variant.
References for this explanation
Pronunciation & syllables
Dictionary readings are kept by language. Select the reading that matches your intended pronunciation. Dots show the source’s written divisions; they are not a universal syllable count across languages.
Tagalog
- /ˈʔalan/Standard-Tagalog
- [ˈʔaː.lɐn̪]Standard-Tagalog
A · llan2 source divisions
Dictionary reading & contributors ↗Wiktionary contributors / Kaikki / Wiktextract · CC BY-SA 4.0
Origin and name formation
Language-specific accounts from the dictionary. A shared spelling can have more than one history.
TagalogEtymology & source
Borrowed from English Allan, Alan, probably of Old Breton or Irish origin.
a male given name from English
CebuanoEtymology & source
From English Allan, Alan, probably of Old Breton or Irish origin.
a male given name from English
EnglishEtymology & source
A male given name from the Celtic languages, a less common spelling of Alan.
Adapted from Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki/Wiktextract. Source accounts remain in their original English; editorial summaries and filters are adapted. Attribution and downloads
People with the name Allan
Public figures and other documented namesakes linked by an explicit given-name claim. This is a selection of records, not a popularity ranking.
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Allan Caidic
Filipino basketball player
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Fernando Poe Jr.
Filipino actor, film director, and politician (1939–2004)
The record establishes the name association, not the person’s intended meaning, pronunciation or ancestry. Descriptions are attributed to Wikidata contributors (CC0).
Use in Philippine-linked records
Public-record transcription
33
eligible source records · 2001
This spelling is reported in an openly licensed transcription of elected-candidate records. This is a record count, not a birth count or national popularity measure.
OpenHalalan / COMELEC ↗Wikidata
14
distinct person records with an explicit given-name claim
Community-edited coverage, not a census or birth registry. Examples: Fernando Poe Jr., Allan Caidic
PSA · OFFICIAL BIRTH RECORDS
Allan in the birth records
Exact spelling and stated year in the published name tables. Read the counts as individual snapshots.
Tables included: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The 2016 fact sheet lists five names per sex; the later tables include ten. Missing counts are not inferred. Sex categories follow the official tables, independently of dictionary gender labels. Explore the official tables →
Related forms & spellings
Related forms may have their own language histories. They are not included in this spelling’s PSA count.
Similar names to Allan
Names with a similar opening or ending, ordered by spelling distance. Similar spelling does not imply the same meaning or origin.
Names in this collection
- Alan♂The medieval Breton name Alan
- Allen♂Variant of Alan, the medieval Breton name
- Arlan·Male dog or predator in the Kazakh route
- Alain·French form of Alan
- Albin·Form of Latin Albinus; white
- Alden♂Old friend; through Old English Ealdwine
- Aldin·Bosnian form of Ala ad-Din
- Aleah♀Variant of Aaliyah; high or exalted
What rhymes with Allan?
Matches share a dictionary-supplied rhyme key in the stated language. Check the recorded reading; another language or accent can change the rhyme.
Names with a similar written ending
Spelling suggestions; these are not verified phonetic rhymes.
Recorded combinations with Allan
9 source-reported compound forms include this name as a component. Each part keeps its own history.
Names in this collection
- Allan Jose·Allan: variant of Alan; Jose: unaccented form of José
- Allan Jun·Source record
- Allan Xystus·Source record
- Cenon Allan·Source record
- John Allan·John: Yahweh is gracious; Allan: Alan name family
- Jose Allan·Jose: May he add; Allan: Alan name family
- Miguel Allan·Miguel: Michael family: who is like God?; Allan: Alan name family
- Mohamad Allan·Mohamad: Muhammad transcription: praised; Allan: Alan name family
Explore Allan further
Follow the sources
- OpenHalalan — pinned 2001 COMELEC transcription (opens in a new tab)
Source-reported given-name form in a row with a separate explicit middle initial; ODbL-1.0.
- COMELEC — 2001 List of Elected Candidates (opens in a new tab)
Original document identified by the transcription; selected PDF entries were spot-checked, not every imported row.
- COMELEC — 2001 List of Elected Candidates (opens in a new tab)
Original document identified by the transcription; selected PDF entries were spot-checked, not every imported row.
- Wikidata given-name item Q2616573 — Allan (opens in a new tab)
Given-name identity, native labels, language associations and explicit class where present; not lexical meaning or population frequency.
- Wikidata — Fernando Poe Jr. (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q2616573 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wikidata — Allan Caidic (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q2616573 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wiktionary contributors — Allan (Tagalog) (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name sense and separately attributed etymology; no birth-frequency claim.
- Wiktionary contributors — Allan (Cebuano) (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name sense and separately attributed etymology; no birth-frequency claim.
- Wiktionary contributors — Allan (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Wiktionary: Allan (opens in a new tab)
Personal-name formation and etymological relationships; imported dictionary account consulted.
- Behind the Name: alan-1 (opens in a new tab)
Independent onomastic comparison and qualifications to the proposed origin.