A male name. Celtic Alun, said to mean ‘harmony'. The name of a popular early Welsh and Breton saint, Bishop of Quimper. It was introduced into England at the time of the Norman Conquest, notably by Alain Fergéant, Count of Brittany, and Alain le Roux, 1st Earl of Richmond, companions of the Conqueror, and soon became common. In French it was Alain and Alein, and the spellings Allan and Allen have both been used in England. Alan is the commonest form at the present time. From the 14th to 16th C it was usually Aleyn, Aleyne. It has always been most popular in the North and especially in Scotland and has given rise to a number of surnames. Alain is still a favourite name in Brittany, but is not much used in the rest of France.

Alanus Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum 1071-5, Domesday Book 1086, Curia Regis Rolls 1189-1212, Feudal Aids 1284. Aleyne 15th C Brut. Aleyn Promptorium Parvulorum. c. 1440.

ALLAN, ALLEN. In Wales, ‘the three primary bards... were Plenydd, Alawn, and Gwron... (respectively) light, harmony, and virtue... Alawn is erected by ardent Cymrians into the mythic Greek Olen, who is said to have been the first writer of hymns in hexameter...; this name is said to mean the flute-player... This must be the real origin of the Breton Alan’(Yonge), ‘introduced into England at about the time of the Norman Conquest... It was first spelt with only one “1”; later variants are Allan and Allen’, Helena Swan, who derives it from the Norman for ‘cheerful’: the two etymologies can probably be resolved into one.

Some derive this name from the Old French alan, allan, a hunting dog, originally from the country of the Alani or Alauni, a warlike people of European Sarmatia. Conf. Sp. Aláno, Med.the Latin Alanus.

Greek (masculine) - Sunbright.

A Celtic name, meaning: Harmony. (Gaelic) Fair; handsome.