Alan

Alan

See also: alan, ałan, alaŋ, a lán, alán, and 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; Nevill Coghill, transl., “The Reeve's Tale”, in 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 (Alanós), Αλάν (el) (Alán) Irish: Ailín Italian: Alano (it) Latin: Alanus Manx: Aleyn Maori: Ārana Persian: آلن‎ (âlen) Portuguese: Alan 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-Ossetic *Allānʉ.

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 (alankʿ) 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)

Anagrams

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

---

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈalan]

Proper noun

Alan m

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Alan

Declension

Declension of Alan

	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/

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 (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 Slovak dictionaries at slovnik.juls.savba.sk

---

Turkish

Proper noun

Alan

1. a male given name