Alan

The name traces to Brittany, though its deeper linguistic origins remain divided between an early Celtic word for a stone and the historical migration of the Alani into western Europe. Norman arrivals introduced the name to England after 1066. American records first cataloged the spelling in 1882, where it gradually established itself as a leaner alternative to Allan and Allen.

The name reads as a man who still owns a working label maker and understands the impedance rating on his stereo receiver. It suggests an era when offices ran on carbon paper and men wore short-sleeved dress shirts to signal approachable authority. With an estimated average age of 49 today and a peak in 1955, an Alan rarely has to explain how to spell his name, even if Allen occasionally intercepts his mail. He is statistically likely to be found quietly repairing something that was not entirely broken.