Allen
Feminine
Allen is given to boys far more often — 271,796 boys against 1,866 girls since 1880. See Allen as a boy name
The doubled l is a surname spelling. Alan with one l is the given name as it came out of Brittany; Allen and Allan with two are how the family names were written once they had become family names, and using the doubled form as a first name is borrowing back from the surname.
How old is the name Allen?
Allen first appears in US birth records in 1896 — 129 years ago. The typical Allen alive today was born around 1950, making them about 75 years old. About 1,100 people named Allen are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Allen most popular?
Allen peaked in 1914, reaching #1228 nationally. See the whole 1914 chart.
Where it comes from
From Alan to Allen
The story of Allen
That is worth stating plainly because the confident glosses are everywhere. The name arrived in England with Breton followers of the Conqueror — one of the greatest landholders in the country after the Conquest carried it — and became extremely common in the north and in Scotland within a century. Its earlier history in Brittany is not recoverable: the language's early records are thin, the name appears without explanation, and every derivation on offer is somebody matching it against a word that looks similar. A name can be very well documented and still have no known meaning.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The name is Breton and its meaning has never been established. Rock, handsome, little and deer have all been proposed and none can be supported from the language.
How the name formed
- Alan
- Allen
- Allan
Related forms: Alain · Alan
Pronouncing Allen
AL-un
Two syllables with the stress at the front and the second reduced. All three spellings are said identically.
Nicknames for Allen
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
- 1896
- Most girls named
- 192536 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1228reached in 1914
- Change vs 2016
- +83.3%11 in 2020, from 6
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.
Allen in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Alain in French — same name
- Alan in Breton — same name
Allens among us
people named Allen are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Allen sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is short, plain and completely easy on first hearing.
- It has been in continuous English use for the better part of a thousand years.
- The spelling and the sound agree with nothing to explain.
- Three spellings are equally standard and the choice is queried constantly.
- No meaning can be given, whatever other pages assert.
- Its peak generation is far enough back to date the name for some ears.
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Allen
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Allens are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,100 people named Allen are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Allen in 2025?
- Allen is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Allen with classmates?
- Allen will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More A names
The most-given names starting with A, all years combined.
Anna#107 · Ashley#164 · Amanda#493 · Amy#257 · Angela#408 · Alice#65 · Ann#1076 · Andrea#235
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Allen? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Allen and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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