Alan (given name): Difference between revisions

Alan
Pronunciation	/ˈælən/
Gender	Male
Language(s)	English, Old Breton, Celtic, Norman French
Other names
Variant form(s)	Allan, Allen, Allyn, Alen, Alin, Alyn
Short form(s)	Al, Allie, Ally, Ali
See also	Alun

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Alan is a masculine given name in the English and Breton languages. Its surname form is Aland.^[2]

There is consensus that in modern English and French, the name is derived from the nomadic Iranian people known as the Alans, who settled in Western Europe during the Migration Period.^[3]

Etymology and early history

Alan is a masculine given name in the English language.^[4]^[5]

The modern English Alan, and French Alain, are derived from the name of the Alans.^[6] Described by Roman authors as tall, blond, and warlike, the Alans were a nomadic Iranian people who lived on the Eurasian steppe and the Caucasus mountains.^[7]^[8]

Related to the Scythians, the Alans were known to Classical authors in the 1st century BC.^[6]

The Alans settled in Western Europe in the Early Middle Ages.^[3] Because there is no recorded use of the ethnonym Alani prior to the 1st century, and because no location with a placename derived from Alani can be shown to be older than the 5th century, it is likely that the name was derived from the Iranian Alan people.^[3] No other explanation of the origin of the name Alan has received any measure of acceptance by scholars.^[3]

However, the Breton name Alan can not be a direct loan from the ethnic name of the Alans (rendered as Alānī or Halānī in Latin, from Scytho-Sarmatian *Al[l]ān-, derived from Old Iranian *aryāna, "noble people")^[9] because the long vowel in the second syllable would produce Old Breton -o-, Middle Breton -eu- and Modern Breton -e- and not the attested spelling with an -a-.^[10]^[11]

In Breton, alan is a colloquial term for a fox and may originally have meant "deer", making it cognate with 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"^[12]), Modern Welsh elain (plural alanedd) "young deer" (and the plant name alan "coltsfoot, elecampane"), coming from a Brittonic root *alan- or *elan (also attested in Celtiberian in personal names such as Elanus, Elaesus, and Ela^[13]), ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *(H₁)el-Hn- "deer, hind" (perhaps denoting an animal - generally cervids - with red or brown fur).^[14]^[15]^[16]

In Ireland and Gaelic-speaking Scotland, Alan may also be an Anglicisation of an Irish word (with diminutive suffix) meaning "rock".^[4] For example, the modern Irish ailín means "little rock".^[17] Similarly, according to Patrick Woulfe, the Irish name Ailín is derived from diminutive ail, which means "noble", "rock". Woulfe stated that this name is a pet form of some other name beginning with the first element Ail-.^[18]^[19] Forms of the Gaelic name appear in early British records; the Latin form Ailenus was recorded by Adomnán (died 704).^[5]^[20]^{[note 1]} Another similar-looking word in Irish is álainn and Scottish Gaelic àlainn, which means "beautiful".^[23]^[24]^[25]

Variations of the name

There are numerous variations of the name in English. The variants Allan and Allen are generally considered to be derived from the surnames Allan and Allen.^[4] The form Allan is used mainly in Scotland and North America.^[26] In England, the given names Allan and Allen are less popular than Alan. However, in America all three are generally about the same in popularity.^[4]

Alun is an old masculine given name in the Welsh language; although it is not directly related to Alan (it is derived from Proto-Celtic *alouno- meaning either "nourishing" or "wandering"^[27]^[28]), today it is generally used as a variant form of the English name. An earlier bearer of this name is Alun of Dyfed, a character in the Mabinogion. The name became popular in modern times when it was adopted as a bardic name by John Blackwell, a 19th-century Welsh poet.^[29]

Short forms

The short form of Alan is Al.^[4] /æl/^[30]

This name is a short form of numerous other etymologically unrelated names that begin with this syllable.^[4] Note also the Cornish hypocoristic form Talan.

Feminine forms

There are numerous feminine forms of Alan. The form Alana is a feminisation of the name. Variants of Alana include: Alanah, Alanna, Alannah, Allana, and Ilana.^[4] Another feminine form is Alaina, derived from the French Alain; a variant of this feminine name is Alayna.^[4] A variant form of Alaina is Alaine, although it can also be a variant form of the etymologically unrelated Elaine.^[4]

In other languages

Croatian: Alan, Alen, masculine. Alina, feminine.
Czech: Alan, masculine. Alena, feminine.
Danish: Allan, masculine.
English: Alaina, Alaine, Alayna, Alana, Alanah, Alanna, Alannah, Allana, feminine.^[4]
Estonian: Allan, masculine.
Faroese: Allan, masculine.
French: Alain, masculine.^[31]
Irish: Ailín, masculine.^[32]
Kurdish: Alan, masculine. The flag bearer.
Latin: Alanus, masculine.
Latin: Ailenus, masculine, the Latin form of Ailín.^[18]
Old Breton: Alan, masculine.^[33]
Old French: Alain/Alein, masculine.^[33]
Ossetian: Alan, masculine.
Norman French: Alan, masculine.^[20]
Romanian: Alin, masculine. Alina, feminine.
Scottish Gaelic: Ailean, masculine.^[34]
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 the Norman Invasion in the mid-11th century. Forms of the name were in use much earlier in what is today Brittany, France. An early figure who bore the name was St Alan, a 5th-century bishop of Quimper. This saint became a cult figure in the Brittany during the Middle Ages. Another early bearer of the name was St Alan, a 6th-century Cornish saint, who has a church dedicated to his memory in Cornwall (for example see St Allen, a civil parish in Cornwall named after this saint).^[17]

Today the use of the given name (and its variants) is due to its popularity among the Bretons who imported the name to England, to Cornwall, and later to Ireland.^[4]^[17] The Bretons formed a significant part of William, Duke of Normandy's army at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Later many Bretons were granted lands throughout William's freshly conquered kingdom. The most notable Breton Alan, Earl of Richmond, a cadet of the ducal house of Brittany, who was awarded with a large swath of lands in England - specifically lands in what is today Lincolnshire and East Anglia. The Breton character in many English counties can be traced through Breton personal names still in use in the 12th centuries. The name ranked 8th in popularity in Lincolnshire in the 12th century, where it was about even with Simon and more numerous than Henry.^[33] Early occurrences of the name in British records include: Alanus in 1066 (in the Domesday Book); and Alain in 1183.^[33] The name became popular in Scotland in part through the Stewarts.^[20] This family descends from Alan fitz Flaad, an Anglo-Breton knight, who possessed lands in what is modern day Shropshire, England.

Notes

^ The name appears within Adomnán's Vita Columbae as part of a patronym: "Colman Canis, filius Aileni".^[21] 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.^[22]

References

^ Alan, Dictionary.com, retrieved 20 November 2010 which cited: Dictionary.com Unabridged, Random House
^ "Aland History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms". House of Names. January 2000.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Bachrach, Bernard S. (1973). A History of the Alans in the West: From Their First Appearance in the Sources of Classical Antiquity Through the Early Middle Ages. University of Minnesota Press. p. 120-136. ISBN 978-1-4529-1215-8.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k 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
^ ^a ^b Macbain, Alexander (1911), An etymological dictionary of the Gaelic language, Stirling: Eneas Mackay, p. 396
^ ^a ^b Bailey, H. W. (15 December 1984), Alans, Encyclopædia Iranica (www.iranica.com), retrieved 20 November 2010
^ Foltz, Richard (30 December 2021). The Ossetes: Modern-Day Scythians of the Caucasus. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-7556-1847-7.
^ Waldman, Carl; Mason, Catherine (2006), Encyclopedia of European Peoples, New York: Facts on File, pp. 12–14, ISBN 0-8160-4964-5
^ Alemany, Agustí, Sources on the Alans: A Critical Compilation, Handbook of Oriental Studies, section 8, vol. 5. Leiden, BRILL, 2000, p. 1ff.
^ Schrijver, Peter, Studies in British Celtic Historical Phonology, Rodopi, 1995, p. 209ff
^ Jackson, Kenneth H., A Historical Phonology of Breton, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1967, pp. 127-140.
^ Koch, John, The Gododdin of Aneirin, Celtic Studies Publications, 1997, p. 9
^ Kruta, Venceslas, Los celtas, EDAF, 1977, p. 195
^ Fleuriot, Léon, Les origines de la Bretagne: l'émigration, Payot, 1982, p. 204
^ Schrijver, Peter, Studies in British Celtic Historical Phonology, Rodopi, 1995, p. 78-79.
^ Adams, Douglas Q., "Designations of the Cervidae in Proto-Indo-European", in: Journal of Indo-European Studies, vol 13, 1985, pp. 269-282.
^ ^a ^b ^c Learn about the family history of your surname, 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".
^ ^a ^b Ailín, Library Ireland (www.libraryireland.com), retrieved 22 November 2010 which is a transcription of: Woulfe, Patrick (1923), Irish Names and Surnames
^ Ó hAilín, Library Ireland (www.libraryireland.com), retrieved 22 November 2010 which is a transcription of: Woulfe, Patrick (1923), Irish Names and Surnames
^ ^a ^b ^c Black, George Fraser (1946), The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning, and History, New York: New York Public Library, p. 14
^ Medieval Sourcebook: Adamnan: Life of St. Columba, [Latin Text: Book I and Book II, cc 1-30], Internet Medieval Source Book (www.fordham.edu)
^ Sharpe, Richard, ed. (1995), Life of St Columba, Penguin classics, Penguin, p. 305, ISBN 978-0-14-044462-9
^ Mark, Colin (2006), The Gaelic-English Dictionary, London: Routledge, p. 32, ISBN 0-203-22259-8
^ Learner's English-Irish Dictionary, Dublin: Educational Company of Ireland, Ltd, c. 1900, p. 8
^ 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
^ 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
^ Lambert, Pierre-Yves, La langue gauloise, Editions Errance, 1994, p. 42.
^ Delamarre, Xavier, Dictionnaire de la langue galoise, 2nd ed., Editions Errance, 2003, p. 37.
^ 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
^ Al, Dictionary.com, retrieved 20 November 2010 which cited: Dictionary.com Unabridged, Random House
^ 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
^ 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
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Reaney, Percy Hilde; Wilson, Richard Middlewood (2006), A Dictionary of English Surnames (3rd ed.), London: Routledge, pp. 40–41, ISBN 0-203-99355-1
^ 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

[23] The name appears within Adomnán's Vita Columbae as part of a patronym: "Colman Canis, filius Aileni".^[21] 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.^[22]

[dictionary-alan-1] Alan, Dictionary.com, retrieved 20 November 2010 which cited: Dictionary.com Unabridged, Random House

[2] "Aland History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms". House of Names. January 2000.

[Bachrach-3] Bachrach, Bernard S. (1973). A History of the Alans in the West: From Their First Appearance in the Sources of Classical Antiquity Through the Early Middle Ages. University of Minnesota Press. p. 120-136. ISBN 978-1-4529-1215-8.

[Hanks-6-4] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k 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

[Macbain-396-5] Macbain, Alexander (1911), An etymological dictionary of the Gaelic language, Stirling: Eneas Mackay, p. 396

[iranica-alans-6] Bailey, H. W. (15 December 1984), Alans, Encyclopædia Iranica (www.iranica.com), retrieved 20 November 2010

[7] Foltz, Richard (30 December 2021). The Ossetes: Modern-Day Scythians of the Caucasus. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-7556-1847-7.

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

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

[10] Schrijver, Peter, Studies in British Celtic Historical Phonology, Rodopi, 1995, p. 209ff

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

[12] Koch, John, The Gododdin of Aneirin, Celtic Studies Publications, 1997, p. 9

[13] Kruta, Venceslas, Los celtas, EDAF, 1977, p. 195

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

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

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

[ancestry-surname-Allen-17] Learn about the family history of your surname, 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".

[libraryireland-Ailín-18] Ailín, Library Ireland (www.libraryireland.com), retrieved 22 November 2010 which is a transcription of: Woulfe, Patrick (1923), Irish Names and Surnames

[19] Ó hAilín, Library Ireland (www.libraryireland.com), retrieved 22 November 2010 which is a transcription of: Woulfe, Patrick (1923), Irish Names and Surnames

[black-14-20] Black, George Fraser (1946), The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning, and History, New York: New York Public Library, p. 14

[21] Medieval Sourcebook: Adamnan: Life of St. Columba, [Latin Text: Book I and Book II, cc 1-30], Internet Medieval Source Book (www.fordham.edu)

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

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

[25] Learner's English-Irish Dictionary, Dublin: Educational Company of Ireland, Ltd, c. 1900, p. 8

[26] 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

[Hanks-10-27] 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

[28] Lambert, Pierre-Yves, La langue gauloise, Editions Errance, 1994, p. 42.

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

[Hanks-12424-30] 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

[dictionary-al-31] Al, Dictionary.com, retrieved 20 November 2010 which cited: Dictionary.com Unabridged, Random House

[32] 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

[33] 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

[reaney-4041-34] Reaney, Percy Hilde; Wilson, Richard Middlewood (2006), A Dictionary of English Surnames (3rd ed.), London: Routledge, pp. 40–41, ISBN 0-203-99355-1

[35] 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

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[16]

[17]

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[note 1]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26]

[27]

[28]

[29]

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[22]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{short description|Male given name}}
-{{Infobox Given Name Revised
+{{for|a list of people with the given name|List of people with given name Alan}}
-| name = Alan
+{{Infobox given name2
-| image=
+| name            = Alan
-| imagesize=
+| image           =
-| caption=
+| image_size      =
-| pronunciation= AL-an
-| gender = Male
+| caption         =
+| pronunciation   = {{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|l|ə|n}}<ref name="dictionary-alan">{{citation |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Alan |title=Alan |publisher=[[Dictionary.com]] |access-date=20 November 2010}} which cited: {{citation |title=Dictionary.com Unabridged |publisher=Random House }}</ref>
-| meaning = Rock, Little Rock, Handsome
+| gender          = [[Male]]
-| region =
+| nameday         =
-| origin = Scottish, Breton, English, Welsh, Irish, Kurdish, Croatian, Alan, Herm Island
+| language        = [[English language|English]], [[Old Breton]], [[Celtic languages|Celtic]], [[Norman French]]
-| related names =
-| footnotes =
+| languageorigin  =
+| origin          =
+| derivation      =
+| meaning         =
+| variant         = [[Allan (given name)|Allan]], Allen, Allyn, Alen, Alin, Alyn
+| shortform       = Al, Allie, Ally, Ali
+| petname         =
+| cognate         =
+| anglicisation   =
+| derivative      =
+| seealso         = [[Alun (given name)|Alun]]
+| wikt            =
 }}
+'''Alan''' is a masculine [[given name]] in the [[English language|English]] and [[Breton language|Breton]] languages. Its surname form is [[Aland (surname)|Aland]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Aland History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms|website=House of Names|date=January 2000 |url=https://www.houseofnames.com/aland-family-crest#:~:text=The%20name%20of%20the%20Aland,the%20Conqueror%20due%20to%20St.}}</ref>
-'''Usage''': [[Scotland|Scottish]], [[Brittany|Breton]], [[England|English]], [[Wales|Welsh]], [[South Ossetia|Ossetic]], [[Ireland|Irish]], [[Denmark|Danish]], [[Kurdistan|Kurdish]], [[Croatia|Croatian]]
+There is consensus that in modern [[English language|English]] and [[French language|French]], the name is derived from the [[nomadic]] [[Iranian languages|Iranian]] people known as the [[Alans]], who settled in [[Western Europe]] during the [[Migration Period]].<ref name="Bachrach" />
-'''Pronounced''': Al-an
+==Etymology and early history==
-'''Alternative Spellings''': Allan, Allen, Alen, Allyn, Alun, Ailín, Arlun
+''Alan'' is a masculine given name in the English language.<ref name="Hanks-6"/><ref name="Macbain-396">{{citation |last=Macbain |first=Alexander |author-link=Alexander Macbain |title=An etymological dictionary of the Gaelic language |url=https://archive.org/details/etymologicaldict00macbuoft |year=1911 |publisher=Eneas Mackay |location=[[Stirling]] |page=396 }}</ref>
+The modern English ''Alan'', and French ''[[Alain (given name)|Alain]]'', are derived from the name of the [[Alans]].<ref name="iranica-alans"/> Described by Roman authors as tall, [[blond]], and warlike, the Alans were a [[nomadic]] [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]] people who lived on the [[Eurasian steppe]] and the [[Caucasus mountains]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Foltz |first1=Richard |title=The Ossetes: Modern-Day Scythians of the Caucasus |date=30 December 2021 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-0-7556-1847-7 |page=61 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tuNJEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT61 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last1=Waldman |first1=Carl |last2=Mason |first2=Catherine |title=Encyclopedia of European Peoples |publisher=Facts on File |location=[[New York City|New York]] |year=2006 |isbn=0-8160-4964-5 |pages=12–14 }}</ref>
-The name means either "little rock" or "handsome" in [[Breton language|Breton]] ([[Brittany]]), and "harmony" in some [[Celtic languages]]. It may possibly have been introduced to [[England]] by [[Bretons]] after the [[Norman Conquest of England]].
+Related to the [[Scythians]], the Alans were known to [[Classical antiquity|Classical]] authors in the 1st century BC.<ref name="iranica-alans">{{citation |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/alans-an-ancient-iranian-tribe-of-the-northern-scythian-saka-sarmatian-massagete-group-known-to-classical-writers-from |title=Alans |publisher=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]] (www.iranica.com) |access-date=20 November 2010 |date=15 December 1984 |author=Bailey, H. W. }}</ref>
-Another similarly rooted, but equally likely origin however, is from the Tribe of "[[Alans]]", a breakaway grouping of the better known Scythians/Sarmatians - a warrior people famed for their horsemanship and prowess for archery from the saddle. These Scythians - a loose collection of tribes sharing a common lifestyle but huge equestrian skills - who had been driven from their lands by the rise and inexorable movement westwards of other more aggressive nomadic peoples from the fringes of Asia via the (now Russian) steppes towards Eastern Europe and Asia minor - Initially settled around Black  sea, keeping contact and trading peacefully  on the outskirts of the Greek world until increasing pressure from competing tribes ultimately led to their attacking peaceful Roman provinces and led to their subjugation and ultimate (many say, wished for) assimilation by Rome.
+The Alans settled in [[Western Europe]] in the [[Early Middle Ages]].<ref name="Bachrach">{{cite book |last1=Bachrach |first1=Bernard S. |title=A History of the Alans in the West: From Their First Appearance in the Sources of Classical Antiquity Through the Early Middle Ages |date=1973 |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |isbn=978-1-4529-1215-8 |page=120-136 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SXER_fLym9kC&pg=PA135&dq=alan+name&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&ovdme=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwix357n59eKAxUWLEQIHVMMHy4Q6AF6BAgGEAM#v=onepage&q&f=false |language=en}}</ref> Because there is no recorded use of the ethnonym ''Alani'' prior to the 1st century, and because no location with a [[placename]] derived from ''Alani'' can be shown to be older than the 5th century, it is likely that the name was derived from the Iranian Alan people.<ref name="Bachrach" /> No other explanation of the origin of the name Alan has received any measure of acceptance by scholars.<ref name="Bachrach" />
-This settling of the Sarmatian/Alan tribe of people upon the periphery of the classical Greek world would also explain the Kurdish occurrence of the Alan name, where a large body of the Alan's eventually settled. There is also a ([[Kurdistan|Kurdish]]) village named Alan in [[Şemdinli]] which is a district located in the [[Hakkari]] Province of southeastern Turkey, this village was also on the route of the [[Alans]] during their westward movement to Europe. The extent of the Scythians, Sarmatians and ultimately their successors the Alans power and respect was vast and clearly indicated by the Cossacks of Russia, who vehemently claim to be descendants of the Alans and to have proudly retained their skills of ferocity, horsemanship and chivalry right up to the modern day.
+However, the Breton name ''Alan'' can not be a direct loan from the ethnic name of the Alans (rendered as ''Alānī'' or ''Halānī'' in Latin, from [[Scytho-Sarmatian]] ''*Al[l]ān-'', derived from [[Old Iranian]] ''*aryāna'', "noble people")<ref>Alemany, Agustí, Sources on the Alans: A Critical Compilation, Handbook of Oriental Studies, section 8, vol. 5. Leiden, BRILL, 2000, p. 1ff.</ref> because the long vowel in the second syllable would produce [[Old Breton]] ''-o-'', [[Middle Breton]] ''-eu-'' and [[Breton language|Modern Breton]] ''-e-'' and not the attested spelling with an ''-a-''.<ref>Schrijver, Peter, Studies in British Celtic Historical Phonology, Rodopi, 1995, p. 209ff</ref><ref>Jackson, Kenneth H., A Historical Phonology of Breton, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1967, pp. 127-140.</ref>
-With more specific reference to the name's occurrence in western Europe, the early Alan's had many encounters with Roman power from this initial contact and showed considerable skill in avoiding or destroying Roman armies, from Parthia (Iran) and Murcia before eventually being defeated and subjugated by Rome, whereupon a significant body of the defeated warriors were absorbed by the Romans as hostage tribute.
+In [[Breton language|Breton]], ''alan'' is a colloquial term for a fox and may originally have meant "deer", making it cognate with [[Welsh language|Old Welsh]] ''alan'' (cf. [[Y Gododdin|''Canu Aneirin'']], B2.28, line 1125: ''"gnaut i-lluru '''alan''' buan bithei"'', "it was usual for him to be fleet like a '''deer'''"<ref>Koch, John, The Gododdin of Aneirin, Celtic Studies Publications, 1997, p. 9</ref>), [[Welsh language|Modern Welsh]] ''elain'' (plural ''alanedd'') "young deer" (and the plant name ''alan'' "coltsfoot, elecampane"), coming from a [[Common Brittonic|Brittonic]] root ''*alan-'' or ''*elan'' (also attested in [[Celtiberian language|Celtiberian]] in personal names such as ''Elanus'', ''Elaesus'', and ''Ela''<ref>Kruta, Venceslas, Los celtas, EDAF, 1977, p. 195</ref>), ultimately derived from [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] ''*(H<sub>1</sub>)el-Hn-'' "deer, hind" (perhaps denoting an animal - generally [[cervids]] - with red or brown fur).<ref>Fleuriot, Léon, Les origines de la Bretagne: l'émigration, Payot, 1982, p. 204</ref><ref>Schrijver, Peter, Studies in British Celtic Historical Phonology, Rodopi, 1995, p. 78-79.</ref><ref>Adams, Douglas Q., "Designations of the Cervidae in Proto-Indo-European", in: Journal of Indo-European Studies, vol 13, 1985, pp. 269-282.</ref>
-This was highly significant, as these highly respected Alan Heavy cavalry units  were now deliberately turned to the use of the Empire, so that whilst the majority of the Alan people were subsequently accommodated by the Empire, many of their youthful and defeated warriors  were now to be held hostage for up to 20 years by the Romans and stationed far from their homeland, mainly in Breton, France and northern Britain, with little hope of return. Such was the reverence within which these Alan horsemen were held by the Romans, that they were not slaughtered upon defeat as usual, but absorbed into the Roman army for their unique skills as warriors to be used for the betterment of the empire itself!
-These "civilised " Alan heavy cavalry units are thought to have seen extensive action in defense of [[Hadrian's wall]] in Britain and some historians believe the vestigial presence of this renowned Alan heavy cavalry during the decline of Roman power, their probable intermarriage with the local populace and their cultural association with the origin of the knightly equine code of chivalry, may have contributed significantly to much of the mystical and legendary traditions of mediaeval Europe and in particular that of the [[Arthurian legends]] of Britain and Breton (France).
+In Ireland and Gaelic-speaking Scotland, Alan may also be an [[Anglicisation]] of an [[Irish language|Irish]] word (with [[diminutive]] suffix) meaning "[[Rock (geology)|rock]]".<ref name="Hanks-6"/> For example, the modern [[Irish language|Irish]] ''ailín'' means "little rock".<ref name="ancestry-surname-Allen">{{citation |url=http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/default.aspx? |title=Learn about the family history of your surname |publisher=[[Ancestry.com]] |access-date=20 November 2010}} which cited: {{citation |title=Dictionary of American Family Names |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=0-19-508137-4 }} for the surname "Allen".</ref> Similarly, according to Patrick Woulfe, the Irish name ''Ailín'' is derived from diminutive ''ail'', which means "noble", "rock". Woulfe stated that this name is a [[pet form]] of some other name beginning with the first element ''Ail-''.<ref name="libraryireland-Ailín">{{citation |title=Ailín |url=http://www.libraryireland.com/names/men/ailin-allen.php |publisher=Library Ireland (www.libraryireland.com) |access-date=22 November 2010 }} which is a transcription of: {{citation |last1=Woulfe |first1=Patrick |title=Irish Names and Surnames |year=1923 }}</ref><ref>{{citation |title=Ó hAilín |url=http://www.libraryireland.com/names/oh/o-hailin.php |publisher=Library Ireland (www.libraryireland.com) |access-date=22 November 2010 }} which is a transcription of: {{citation |last1=Woulfe |first1=Patrick |title=Irish Names and Surnames |year=1923 }}</ref> Forms of the Gaelic name appear in early British records; the [[Latin]] form ''Ailenus'' was recorded by [[Adomnán]] (died 704).<ref name="Macbain-396"/><ref name="black-14"/>{{#tag:ref|The name appears within Adomnán's ''[[Columba#Vita Columbae|Vita Columbae]]'' as part of a patronym: "Colman Canis, filius Aileni".<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/columba-l.html |title=Medieval Sourcebook: Adamnan: Life of St. Columba, [Latin Text: Book I and Book II, cc 1-30] |publisher=Internet Medieval Source Book (www.fordham.edu) }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{citation |editor=Sharpe, Richard |title=Life of St Columba | publisher=[[Penguin Group|Penguin]] |series=Penguin classics |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-14-044462-9 |page=305 }}</ref>|group=note}} Another similar-looking word in Irish is ''álainn'' and [[Scottish Gaelic]] ''àlainn'', which means "beautiful".<ref>{{citation |last=Mark |first=Colin |title=The Gaelic-English Dictionary | publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2006 |location=London |isbn=0-203-22259-8 |page=32 }}</ref><ref>{{citation |url=https://archive.org/details/learnersenglishi00osiouoft |title=Learner's English-Irish Dictionary |publisher=Educational Company of Ireland, Ltd |location=[[Dublin]] |year=c. 1900 |page=8 }}</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Harrison |first=Henry |title=Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary |publisher=Genealogical Publishing Company |year=1996 |page=6 |isbn=978-0-8063-0171-6 |edition=Reprint }}</ref>
-It is possible that the extensive use of the name Alan in the English speaking world was due to both the Breton (Norman) influence  but also an even earlier presence which may have existed from the 1st and 2nd AD and in turn have led to the development of the more prevalent Allen/Allan form encountered today within England  & Scotland and its many derivatives beyond.
+==Variations of the name==
-In the modern world, the name Alan was particularly popular among American parents in the early to mid-20th century, and is very widely used in Ireland and Britain. Allen is an English spelling of the name, Allan a Scottish English spelling, Ailean a Scottish Gaelic spelling and Ailín the Irish version. The Welsh spelling Alun is rarely used outside of Wales, and the name is occasionally seen spelled Alyn, Welsh pronunciation is different (pronounced Alin). The name is also used as a surname, usually spelled Allen or Ó hAilín in Irish. Related surnames include Alanson, Allanshaw, and Allenby.
+There are numerous variations of the name in English. The variants ''Allan'' and ''Allen'' are generally considered to be derived from the surnames ''Allan'' and ''Allen''.<ref name="Hanks-6"/> The form Allan is used mainly in Scotland and [[North America]].<ref name="Hanks-10">{{citation |last1=Hanks |first1=Patrick |last2=Hardcastle |author-link1=Patrick Hanks |first2=Kate |last3=Hodges |first3=Flavia |title=A Dictionary of First Names |edition=2nd |series=Oxford Paperback Reference |year=2006 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=[[Oxford]] |isbn=978-0-19-861060-1 |page=10 }}</ref> In England, the given names ''Allan'' and ''Allen'' are less popular than ''Alan''. However, in America all three are generally about the same in popularity.<ref name="Hanks-6"/>
+''Alun'' is an old masculine given name in the [[Welsh language]]; although it is not directly related to ''Alan'' (it is derived from Proto-Celtic ''*alouno-'' meaning either "nourishing" or "wandering"<ref>Lambert, Pierre-Yves, La langue gauloise, Editions Errance, 1994, p. 42.</ref><ref>Delamarre, Xavier, Dictionnaire de la langue galoise, 2nd ed., Editions Errance, 2003, p. 37.</ref>), today it is generally used as a variant form of the English name. An earlier bearer of this name is [[Alun of Dyfed]], a character in the ''[[Mabinogion]]''. The name became popular in modern times when it was adopted as a [[bardic name]] by [[John Blackwell (Alun)|John Blackwell]], a 19th-century Welsh poet.<ref name="Hanks-12424">{{citation |last1=Hanks |first1=Patrick |last2=Hardcastle |author-link1=Patrick Hanks |first2=Kate |last3=Hodges |first3=Flavia |title=A Dictionary of First Names |edition=2nd |series=Oxford Paperback Reference |year=2006 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=[[Oxford]] |isbn=978-0-19-861060-1 |pages=12, 424 }}</ref>
-Forms in other languages of Alan include ''Alain'' in French and ''Alano'' in Spanish.
+==Short forms==
+The short form of ''Alan'' is ''Al''.<ref name="Hanks-6"/> {{IPAc-en|æ|l}}<ref name="dictionary-al">{{citation |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Al |title=Al |publisher=[[Dictionary.com]] |access-date=20 November 2010}} which cited: {{citation |title=Dictionary.com Unabridged |publisher=Random House }}</ref>
+This name is a short form of numerous other etymologically unrelated names that begin with this [[syllable]].<ref name="Hanks-6"/> Note also the Cornish hypocoristic form ''Talan''.
-[[br:Alan]]
-[[cs:Alan]]
-[[da:Allan]]
-[[de:Alain]]
-[[la:Alanus]]
-[[no:Allan]]
-[[pl:Alan]]
-[[sk:Alan]]
-[[fi:Allan]]
-[[sv:Allan]]
+==Feminine forms==
+There are numerous feminine forms of ''Alan''. The form ''Alana'' is a feminisation of the name. Variants of ''Alana'' include:  ''Alanah'', ''Alanna'', ''Alannah'', ''Allana'', and ''Ilana''.<ref name="Hanks-6"/> Another feminine form is ''Alaina'', derived from the [[French language|French]] ''Alain''; a variant of this feminine name is ''Alayna''.<ref name="Hanks-6"/> A variant form of Alaina is ''Alaine'', although it can also be a variant form of the etymologically unrelated ''Elaine''.<ref name="Hanks-6"/>
+==In other languages==
+* [[Croatian language|Croatian]]: ''Alan'', ''Alen'', masculine. ''Alina'', feminine.
+* [[Czech language|Czech]]: ''Alan'', masculine. ''Alena'', feminine.
+* [[Danish language|Danish]]: ''Allan'', masculine.
+* [[English language|English]]: ''Alaina'', ''Alaine'', ''Alayna'', ''Alana'', ''Alanah'', ''Alanna'', ''Alannah'', ''Allana'', feminine.<ref name="Hanks-6"/>
+* [[Estonian language|Estonian]]: ''Allan'', masculine.
+* [[Faroese language|Faroese]]: ''Allan'', masculine.
+* [[French language|French]]: ''[[Alain (given name)|Alain]]'', masculine.<ref>{{citation |last1=Hanks |first1=Patrick |last2=Hardcastle |author-link1=Patrick Hanks |first2=Kate |last3=Hodges |first3=Flavia |title=A Dictionary of First Names |edition=2nd |series=Oxford Paperback Reference |year=2006 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=[[Oxford]] |isbn=978-0-19-861060-1 |pages=302 }}</ref>
+* [[Irish language|Irish]]: ''Ailín'', masculine.<ref>{{citation |last1=Hanks |first1=Patrick |last2=Hardcastle |author-link1=Patrick Hanks |first2=Kate |last3=Hodges |first3=Flavia |title=A Dictionary of First Names |edition=2nd |series=Oxford Paperback Reference |year=2006 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=[[Oxford]] |isbn=978-0-19-861060-1 |pages=341 }}</ref>
+* [[Kurdish languages|Kurdish]]: ''Alan'', masculine. The flag bearer.
+* [[Latin]]: ''Alanus'', masculine.
+* [[Latin]]: ''Ailenus'', masculine, the Latin form of ''Ailín''.<ref name="libraryireland-Ailín"/>
+* [[Old Breton]]: ''Alan'', masculine.<ref name="reaney-4041">{{Citation |last=Reaney |first=Percy Hilde |author2=Wilson, Richard Middlewood |title=A Dictionary of English Surnames |edition=3rd |year=2006 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=London |isbn=0-203-99355-1 |pages=40–41 }}</ref>
+* [[Old French]]: ''Alain''/''Alein'', masculine.<ref name="reaney-4041"/>
+* [[Ossetian people|Ossetian]]: ''Alan'', masculine.
+* [[Norman French]]: ''Alan'', masculine.<ref name="black-14">{{citation |last=Black |first=George Fraser |title=The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning, and History |publisher=[[New York Public Library]] |location=New York |year=1946 |page=14 }}</ref>
+* [[Romanian language|Romanian]]: ''Alin'', masculine. ''Alina'', feminine.
+* [[Scottish Gaelic]]: ''Ailean'', masculine.<ref>{{citation |last1=Hanks |first1=Patrick |last2=Hardcastle |author-link1=Patrick Hanks |first2=Kate |last3=Hodges |first3=Flavia |title=A Dictionary of First Names |edition=2nd |series=Oxford Paperback Reference |year=2006 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=[[Oxford]] |isbn=978-0-19-861060-1 |pages=399 }}</ref>
+* [[Spanish language|Spanish]]: ''Alano'', ''Alán'', masculine.
+* [[Welsh language|Welsh]]: ''Alun'', masculine.
+* [[Indonesian language|Indonesian]]: ''Alan'', masculine.
+==Popularity and use==
-[[Category:Masculine given names]]
+{{see also|List of people with given name Alan}}
+The name was brought to [[England]] by [[Breton people|Breton]]s who took part in the [[Norman Invasion]] in the mid-11th century. Forms of the name were in use much earlier in what is today [[Brittany (administrative region)|Brittany]], [[France]]. An early figure who bore the name was St Alan, a 5th-century bishop of [[Quimper]]. This saint became a cult figure in the Brittany during the [[Middle Ages]]. Another early bearer of the name was St Alan, a 6th-century [[Cornish people|Cornish]] saint, who has a church dedicated to his memory in [[Cornwall]] (for example see [[St Allen]], a [[civil parish]] in Cornwall named after this saint).<ref name="ancestry-surname-Allen"/>
+Today the use of the given name (and its variants) is due to its popularity among the Bretons who imported the name to England, to Cornwall, and later to [[Ireland]].<ref name="Hanks-6">{{citation |last1=Hanks |first1=Patrick |last2=Hardcastle |author-link1=Patrick Hanks |first2=Kate |last3=Hodges |first3=Flavia |title=A Dictionary of First Names |edition=2nd |series=Oxford Paperback Reference |year=2006 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=[[Oxford]] |isbn=978-0-19-861060-1 |page=6 }}</ref><ref name="ancestry-surname-Allen"/> The Bretons formed a significant part of [[William, Duke of Normandy]]'s army at the [[Battle of Hastings]] in 1066. Later many Bretons were granted lands throughout William's freshly conquered [[Kingdom of England|kingdom]]. The most notable Breton Alan, Earl of Richmond, a [[cadet]] of the ducal house of Brittany, who was awarded with a large swath of lands in England - specifically lands in what is today [[Lincolnshire]] and [[East Anglia]]. The Breton character in many English counties can be traced through Breton personal names still in use in the 12th centuries. The name ranked 8th in popularity in Lincolnshire in the 12th century, where it was about even with ''Simon'' and more numerous than ''Henry''.<ref name="reaney-4041"/> Early occurrences of the name in British records include: ''Alanus'' in 1066 (in the ''[[Domesday Book]]''); and ''Alain'' in 1183.<ref name="reaney-4041"/> The name became popular in Scotland in part through the [[Clan Stewart|Stewarts]].<ref name="black-14"/> This family descends from [[Alan fitz Flaad]], an Anglo-Breton knight, who possessed lands in what is modern day [[Shropshire]], England.
+==See also==
+*[[Allan (given name)]]
+==Notes==
+{{Reflist|group=note}}
+==References==
+{{reflist|30em}}
+{{DEFAULTSORT:Alan (Name)}}
+[[Category:English-language masculine given names]]
+[[Category:English masculine given names]]
+[[Category:German masculine given names]]