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Alanis

Feminine

Alanis is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 3,393 girls against 7 boys since 1880.

1995high 2013
#2458 in the U.S.given to only a few children a year
rare72 girls in 2025

Alanis is a feminine of Alan, and Alan's Breton origin is one of the field's genuine unsolved problems.

How old is the name Alanis?

Alanis first appears in US birth records in 1995 — 30 years ago. The typical Alanis alive today was born around 2010, making them about 15 years old. About 3,400 people named Alanis are estimated to be alive in the US today.

When was the name Alanis most popular?

Alanis peaked in 1996, reaching #1078 nationally. Today it ranks #2458, 1,380 places below that high. See the whole 1996 chart.

Compare this nameMore “A” names

Lists built from the same records:

I

Where it comes from

The story of Alanis

The Alans were an Iranian steppe people, some of whom settled in Gaul in the fifth century, and one proposal connects the name to them; a Celtic origin is equally argued. Breton settlers brought Alan to England at the Conquest. Alanis is a modern feminine and appears in American records in current use.

Meaningscholars disagree

Not established

From Alan, whose Breton origin is genuinely unrecovered. Proposals include a Celtic word for a rock or a deer, and a connection to the Alans, an Iranian people who settled in Brittany. None is established. Alanis is a modern feminine formation.

How the name formed

  1. Alan
  2. Alanis

Related forms: Alannis · Alan

Pronouncing Alanis

uh-LAN-iss

Three syllables, stress in the middle. Said identically in every English accent.

Nicknames for Alanis

Moderate

LaniTaken from the middle, and a name in its own right in Hawaiian
AlaThe front of the name, used inside families rather than generally
II

What the data says

The long climb, and where it stands now

GIRLS NAMED · 1995–20251829101827219952025

US babies named Alanis per year from 1995 to 2025
AVERAGE RANK BY DECADE#1#10#100#1000#10781990s2020s

The same years in position rather than babies

First recorded
1995
Most girls named
2013182 — the highest on record
Peak rank
#1078reached in 1996
Change vs 2024
−22.6%72 in 2025, from 93
Alanis sits in the rare tail. Its best year on record was 2013, with 182 girls. Today it is given to few enough children that it does not enter the ranked charts at all.

Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.

Alanis in other languages

The same name elsewhere

  • Alannis in English — spelling variant
  • Alan in Breton — related form

Strongest US states over the last decade: Florida, Texas, California.

Alaniss among us

3,400

people named Alanis are estimated to be alive in the US today

About 1 girl in 22,323 born in 2025 was named Alanis

Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method

Spellings of Alanis

#2458
Alanis on the 2025 chart
#848
counting every spelling

The SSA counts spellings, not names. Alanis went to 72 girls in 2025, but Alanys and Alannys are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 112, which makes it the 848th most-given girls’ name of the year — 1,610 places above the chart.

  • Alanis72
  • Alanys35
  • Alannys5

About 1 girl in 14,351 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 22,323 for Alanis itself.

Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method

III

Is it right for you

The Randee test

Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Alanis's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Randee climbed just as high around 1951, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Randee's path sketches the road Alanis is walking now.

40%chance Alanis will feel “very 2000s” by 2040
Alanis, aligned on its peakRandee· peak 1951not yet written
#1#10#100#1000peak-10 yrs+70 yrsRandee · #12243Alanis today
Alanis today is about where Randee stood in 1980 — 29 years past a #1078-sized peak. By 1995, Randee had settled around #2962.
Ages quietlysteadyDates fast

Alanis sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.

A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored

Where Alanis is headed

19952030

US babies named Alanis per year, 1995 to 2025, with a projection to 2030

Alanis should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.

Steady0% by 2030projected around #2,571 in 2030

Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.

A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.

Alanis beside its neighbors

The names ranked closest to Alanis in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.

Alanisthis name72#2458Edna72#2458Samia72#2458Jesse72#2458Roxy72#2458

US girls given each name in 2025.

The trade-off

Practical strengths
  • That an Iranian steppe people may lie behind the name is a first-rate possibility.
  • Lani is available as a short form that is a real name elsewhere.
  • Three syllables of open vowels, which carries unusually well.
What to consider
  • The meaning is genuinely unrecovered.
  • One musician dominates the association.
  • It is very new as a name.

Nobody names a baby alone.
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Alanis

Feminine · #2458 in the U.S.

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Frequently asked

How many Alaniss are there in the world?
No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,400 people named Alanis are estimated to be alive in the US today.
How do you spell Alanis?
Alanis is the most-used spelling in US records — 72 of the 112 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Alanys and Alannys.
How popular is the name Alanis in 2025?
Alanis ranks #2458 among US girl names in 2025, with 72 babies given the name.
How rare is the name Alanis?
About 1 in every 22,323 US girls born in 2025 was named Alanis — 72 in all.
Will my child share the name Alanis with classmates?
Alanis will almost certainly be the only one in school.

Ranked beside Alanis

Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.

Edna#2458 · Samia#2458 · Jesse#2458 · Roxy#2458 · Zaniya#2458 · Jailyn#2458 · Aiyla#2458 · Keyli#2458

Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Alanis? See the current top 100.

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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology

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