English word origin

Etymology of Alan

From Old Breton Alan, name of early Breton saints, of disputed origin and meaning; brought to England by Normans. It may have been the name of a Celtic deity, the brother of Bran, Welsh Alawn, Alun. As an early Irish nam

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗

In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗

name

A male given name from the Celtic languages. · A surname.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Derivation mentionAlanobt
Cognate mentionAlawncy
Cognate mentionAlainfr

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "obt",
        "3": "Alan"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Breton Alan"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "br",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Breton"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "cy",
        "2": "Alawn"
      },
      "expansion": "Welsh Alawn"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fr",
        "2": "Alain"
      },
      "expansion": "French Alain"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "Alan",
      "Alan#Old_Breton"
    ],
    [
      "Norman",
      "Norman"
    ],
    [
      "Alawn",
      "Alawn#Welsh"
    ],
    [
      "Alun",
      "Alun#Welsh"
    ],
    [
      "ail",
      "ail#Irish"
    ],
    [
      "Alain",
      "Alain#French"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "name",
      "glosses": [
        "A male given name from the Celtic languages.",
        "A surname."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "0b905320d9ee9016eae6112597f6ce7dd4c7e1a76fc4f3ecf988c7d5a8c5b7ef",
      "rawRecordSha256": "259dfa31a30c5f88be75eb5983033cbc0651c2715573a5f4dfb7fdf6df57af1f",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 322497
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗

noun

A member of a group of Sarmatian tribes, nomadic pastoralists of the 1st millennium AD who spoke an Eastern Iranian language derived from Scytho-Sarmatian and which in turn evolved into modern Ossetian.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Latin Alānī, from Ancient Greek Ἀλανοί (Alanoí), from Proto-Sarmatian *Āllān.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Borrowed-form mentionAlānīla
Derivation mentionἈλανοίgrc
Derivation mention*Āllānxsc-sar-pro

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "bor",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "Alānī"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin Alānī"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "grc",
        "3": "Ἀλανοί"
      },
      "expansion": "Ancient Greek Ἀλανοί (Alanoí)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "xsc-sar-pro",
        "3": "*Āllān"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Sarmatian *Āllān"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "Alānī",
      "Alani#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "Ἀλανοί",
      "Ἀλανοί#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "*Āllān",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Sarmatian/Āllān"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A member of a group of Sarmatian tribes, nomadic pastoralists of the 1st millennium AD who spoke an Eastern Iranian language derived from Scytho-Sarmatian and which in turn evolved into modern Ossetian."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "historical"
      ],
      "recordId": "76f1dd0aa480b402004346effbed72d9032c40d86a595df13031b160e0750940",
      "rawRecordSha256": "1ec4ecbb214742f6033d9e32b14a83e62601345e24170010c9832cd05c544b23",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 322498
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for Alan →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger

Machine-source provenance

Source SHA-256: 5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run: 73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID: w-QWxhbg