Said another way, of the people you know of with the name what’s the most common spelling?
Anonymous poll on the way…
All are familiar to me, and none would be weird (Allyn, the least familiar to me, is my own stepson’s middle name), but “Alan” is the one I default to as the “normal” spelling. But they’re all common enough that I would ask someone how to spell his name if that were it, rather than assume.
For the record, I’d think of “Allen” as a last name before I thought of it as a first name. That shouldn’t stop anybody though since it’s a nice as a first name regardless.
“Alan” is the only spelling I have thus far come across in real life for the first name.
Alan
“Allen” strikes me more as a surname.
“Allyn” is a girl’s name (only IMO of course).
My husband’s middle name is Alan, so that’s what I put on our wedding invitations.
I received a phone call from his mother, who was upset that his name was spelled incorrectly. His middle name was really Allen, and when I told him, he was shocked. His driver’s license and Social Security card were all Alan. Luckily it hasn’t been a problem other than trying to explain to his mother that he didn’t know his middle name.
So I am very familiar with two of the spellings.
Alan because, well, it is my middle name.
Great, now I’m going to have that video of voice-dubbed animals in my head all day, with the Prairie dog standing there yelling “Alan! Alan! Alan! Alan! Alan!”
Alan for the first time, by miles. I’ve met tons of Alans in my life and never knowingly met anyone with their name spelt the other ways you mentioned.
I’ve met a few Aluns though - you missed that one. That’s the Welsh spelling and isn’t that uncommon in certain parts of England as well as, obviously, Wales, but it probably never caught on in the US.
For surnames Allen would be the most common one, I think. I’ve certainly known a few. Allan would also be completely unexceptional.
Allyn stands out to me as an unusual way of spelling the name; I would not pronounce that the same way as I would all the others.
Bravo, Dude! Is that not very close to THE funniest video?
No it’s not because Allen is MY middle name.
At this stage Allan isn’t getting much love. Other than Allan “Rocky” Lane (I) (1909–1973), I can’t name one offhand. Can you?
Are you both sure it isn’t your last name?
Alan is my middle name, and I still voted Allen.
I wonder if there’s an Alan Allan Allen somewhere, but am afraid to Google for it! :rolleyes:
I can call you Betty and Betty you can call me Al.
I searched my company directory of approximately 7,000 employees:
Alan - 21
Allen - 10
Allan - 3
Allyn - 0
I had a (girl) friend in high school whose middle name was Alyn.
It’s deep enough in the thread that most likely few will notice it, but rather than starting another thread, I’ll just ask it here, and if you think it’s worth the trouble maybe you can start another thread about it:
All that being said:
What’s another name like Alan/Allan/Allen that works for any place in a name? And that’s without relying on adding an “s” to it, like Peter Peters, or sticking a -son on the end of it.
Tons. Just off the top of my head:
Lee
Murphy
George
John
James
Brady
Bradley
Dawson
Paul
Reed
Tucker
Winston
Connor
Grady
Simon
Owen
Logan
Morton
Lloyd
Allison
Page
Clay
Randall
Anthony
Bruce
Baxter
Glenn
Walter
Jordan
Wayne
Wilson
Martin
Clark
Scott
Nelson
Stewart
Bailey
Ross
Perry
Russell
Wallace
Cole
Ellis
Henry
Warren
Gordon
Grant
Pierce
Ray
Duncan
Riley
Austin
Ryan
Kim
Dean
Terry
Wade
Neal
Horton
Lucas
Miles
Craig
Fletcher
Tate
Blair
Reese
Quinn
Floyd
My hat is off to you, DCnDC, for seeing that better-late-than-never post and for providing such an amazing reply!
Remember Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez (1925–2006) (who went by just Gonzalez Gonzalez), by any chance? 
Alan seems to be the most common variation I see aside from my family.
Allan is a family name, so I see it spelled like that quite a bit, including my grandfather, son and several cousins (some first names, some middle names).