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The first name 
Allen

Allen is a first name typically given to boys, but in rare cases also used as a girls name.

Allen – popular and common in the US!

The name Allen isn’t among the current fashionable names in our top 10 stats, but nonetheless, it’s still very popular and common. In our SmartGenius ranking of all boys names, Allen ranks 384. Recently, out of every 10,000 newborn boys, approximately 4 were named Allen. In the entire USA, approximately 260,746 people – children, adults and seniors – currently bear the name Allen. That is 0.08 % of all living Americans.

You won't believe all there is 
to discover about the name
 
Allen

What does the name 
Allen mean?

Allen was originally a surname, originating in Ireland. It could be derived from the Gaelic Ailin, that means both ‘little rock’ and ‘harmony’, or from the Celtic Aluinn, which means ‘handsome’.

Allen was significantly ... more popular in the U.S. before 1980 than it is now.

Allen -
someone you can count on

Allen is the epitome of perseverance. Every year since first names have been registered in the U.S., parents have come up with the idea of naming their son Allen. This means that several boys named Allen have witnessed significant events such as the first Nobel Prize ceremony, the moon landing, the release of the first cell phone, or the turn of the millennium. The first name Allen has reached its best rank of #70 multiple times, most recently in 1949. The name has also been in the top 100 for many years. This makes Allen one of the most popular names of all time.

In years where the graph has no value, the name Allen was given less than five times or even none at all in the entire USA.

Allen -
at home all over the USA, especially popular in North Dakota

Wherever you go, wherever you live – there’s a good chance to meet Allen. Because: There are men and boys named Allen in every state in the USA. This may sound quite unspectacular at first, but in fact, of the nearly 50,000 different male first names that occur in the USA, just 386 are recorded in each individual state, so the name Allen is definitely something very special. In some regions it even makes it into the top 100 of the most popular male first names, for example in Louisiana, where Allen ranks on position 74. The greatest chance of meeting Allen, however, is in North Dakota, where one in 310 boys and men bears this beautiful name – that is far above average – in the entire USA it is only one in 640 men and boys and in Arizona, where the name is least represented in relation to the population, you even have to ask an average of 997 men and boys for their name before you once get Allen as an answer.

Allen has 5 letters 
and begins with an A

Well, you might say, you probably figured that out yourself! But what you might not know is: The letter A is a very popular first letter for boys’ names. That’s because 9.0% of all common boys’ names in the US begin with this letter. Only the first letter J is more common for boys' names.

With five letters, the name Allen is comparatively short. In fact, 17.0% of all common first names in the US consist of exactly five letters. Only 7% of all first names are even shorter, while 75% have more than five letters. On average, first names in the US (not counting hyphenated names) are 6.5 letters long. There are no significant differences between boys' and girls' names.

That means that if 9.0% of all boys' names start with an A, this initial letter occurs nearly three times as often as all other letters on average. And by the way: Of all the boys' names that start with an A, Anthony is the most common.

Other names with 
A, l, l, e and n

If you take all the letters in the name Allen – A, l, l, e and n – and put them together again, you can form other names, such as Anell or others.

With hands, flags and sounds 
How to say Allen

If your name is Allen and someone asks after your name, you can of course just tell them what it is. But sometimes that isn't so easy - what if it's too loud, and you don't understand them well? Or what if the other person is so far away that you can see them but not hear them? In these situations, you can communicate your name in so many other ways: you call spell it, sign it, or even use a flag to wave it...

This is how you spell the name Allen

So that everyone really understands you when you have to spell the name Allen, you can simply say:

Apple

Lion

Lion

Elephant

Nut

This is how the name Allen is spelled in the NATO phonetic alphabet

The NATO alphabet often helps people spell words on the phone or radio when there are communication problems.

How do you write Allen in Braille?

Braille is made up of dots, which the blind and visually impaired can feel to read words.

Allen

Allen

You want to tell a deaf person that your name is Allen

Just use American Sign Language!

The name Allen is particularly colorful in the Semaphore flag signaling system!

These flags are used for maritime communication - each flag represents a letter.

A
L
L
E
N

Have you ever waved the name Allen

In the navy, sailors of two ships might wave flags to each other to send messages. A sailor holds two flags in specific positions to represent different letters.

A
L
L
E
N

Beeping like crazy...

In Morse code, letters and other characters are represented only by a series of short and long tones. For example, a short tone followed by a long tone stands for the letter A. Allen sounds like this: