Alen
Masculine · “handsome”
Alen is the Bosnian, Croatian and Slovenian form of Alan, a Breton name that Norman lords carried into Britain and that then traveled back across Europe by an entirely different road.
How old is the name Alen?
Alen first appears in US birth records in 1918 — 107 years ago. The typical Alen alive today was born around 2001, making them about 24 years old. About 2,200 people named Alen are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Alen most popular?
Alen peaked in 2005, reaching #1635 nationally. Today it ranks #3240, 1,605 places below that high. See the whole 2005 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Alan to Alen
The story of Alen
Breton followers of the Norman conquest brought Alan to England in the eleventh century, and it became common there and in Scotland. Quite separately, the name reached the western Balkans in the twentieth century and was taken up in Bosnia, Croatia and Slovenia in the spelling Alen, where it has been a standard men's name for decades. It reaches American records from both directions and from Scandinavia as well.
Meaningscholars disagree
handsome, or little rock
Alan's origin is genuinely disputed. Readings include a Celtic word for rock and one for handsome or cheerful, and a connection to the Alans, a people who moved west with the migrations, has also been proposed. None is settled.
How the name formed
- Alan
- Alen
Related forms: Alan · Alen · Alain · Alán
Pronouncing Alen
AH-len
Two syllables, first stressed. English speakers read it as Allen, with a flatter first vowel.
Nicknames for Alen
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1918
- Most boys named
- 200583 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1635reached in 2005
- Change vs 2023
- −7.7%36 in 2025, from 39
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.
Alen in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Alan in English — same name
- Alen in Bosnian — same name
- Alain in French — same name
- Alán in Spanish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York, Florida.
Alens among us
people named Alen are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 47,447 born in 2025 was named Alen
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Alen
- #3240
- Alen on the 2025 chart
- #488
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Alen went to 36 boys in 2025, but Allen is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 543, which makes it the 488th most-given boys’ name of the year — 2,752 places above the chart.
- Allen507
- Alen36
About 1 boy in 3,146 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 47,447 for Alen 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
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Montreal test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Alen's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Montreal climbed just as high around 1990, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Montreal's path sketches the road Alen is walking now.
Alen 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 Alen is headed
Alen should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
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.
Alen beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Alen in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Four letters and two syllables, easy in every language that uses it.
- Alan has a documented eight-hundred-year record in Britain behind the sound.
- Al is a plain short form available immediately.
- Allen and Alan are both far more written in America and will be used for him.
- The first vowel is broader in Bosnian and Croatian than in English.
- The meaning is genuinely unsettled, so the honest answer names more than one reading.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Alen
Masculine · #3240 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Alens are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,200 people named Alen are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Alen?
- Alen is one of 2 recorded spellings. Allen is the more common one — 507 births in 2025 against 36 for Alen.
- How popular is the name Alen in 2025?
- Alen ranks #3240 among US boy names in 2025, with 36 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Alen?
- About 1 in every 47,447 US boys born in 2025 was named Alen — 36 in all.
- Will my child share the name Alen with classmates?
- Alen will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Alen
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Eugenio#3240 · Pace#3240 · Stoney#3240 · Dany#3240 · Rasheed#3240 · Abdirahman#3240 · Mykah#3240 · Lowell#3240
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Alen? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Alen and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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