Alan
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from the Celtic languages. 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.
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Alan (CC BY-SA 4.0). This is the origin of the name in English; families in Sweden may have taken it from another language.
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Alan has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2016. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Boys |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 22 |
| 1999 | 12 |
| 2000 | 14 |
| 2001 | 15 |
| 2002 | 22 |
| 2003 | 22 |
| 2004 | 19 |
| 2005 | 23 |
| 2006 | 19 |
| 2007 | 17 |
| 2008 | 19 |
| 2009 | 13 |
| 2010 | 24 |
| 2011 | 16 |
| 2012 | 13 |
| 2013 | 24 |
| 2014 | 22 |
| 2015 | 25 |
| 2016 | 30 |
| 2017 | 28 |
| 2018 | 28 |
| 2019 | 30 |
| 2020 | 21 |
| 2021 | 25 |
| 2022 | 27 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls | Men and boys |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | – | 599 |
| 2000 | 11 | 635 |
| 2001 | 12 | 672 |
| 2002 | 13 | 705 |
| 2003 | 12 | 741 |
| 2004 | 12 | 779 |
| 2005 | 13 | 814 |
| 2006 | 13 | 868 |
| 2007 | 14 | 908 |
| 2008 | 12 | 957 |
| 2009 | 15 | 998 |
| 2010 | 15 | 1,035 |
| 2011 | 16 | 1,064 |
| 2012 | 17 | 1,111 |
| 2013 | 17 | 1,159 |
| 2014 | 18 | 1,217 |
| 2015 | 18 | 1,268 |
| 2016 | 17 | 1,350 |
| 2017 | 16 | 1,419 |
| 2018 | 16 | 1,469 |
| 2019 | 17 | 1,516 |
| 2020 | 17 | 1,554 |
Alan in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Alan.Hi! My name is Alan.
- Alan bor i Umeå och jobbar som snickare.Alan lives in Umeå and works as a carpenter.
- Vet du om Alan kommer på festen på lördag?Do you know if Alan is coming to the party on Saturday?
- Alans mamma är lärare.Alan's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Alans mamma is Alan's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Alan
How do you pronounce Alan in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Alan in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Alan mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from the Celtic languages. 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.
How popular is Alan in Sweden?
27 babies were named Alan in 2022. In 2020, 1,571 people in Sweden had Alan as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2016 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.