# Which variation of this name is most common to you? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 8, 2014, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-variation-of-this-name-is-most-common-to-you/692636 "2014-07-08T14:31:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-variation-of-this-name-is-most-common-to-you/692636/41 "2014-07-10T13:21:19Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Huh, few. I guess between Edgar Allan Poe and that Allan doll I had as a kid, Allan has been the only way for me. They got to me early. Yeah, Edgar Allan Poe is the only one that came to mind with that spelling (don’t know what an Allan doll is), and that “Allan” is actually the last name of his adoptive family (his father abandonded him and his mother died when he was almost 3.) ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-variation-of-this-name-is-most-common-to-you/692636/42 "2014-07-10T14:22:55Z")
Alan, because it’s the spouse’s middle name and I’m a huge Alan Parsons Project fan. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-variation-of-this-name-is-most-common-to-you/692636/43 "2014-07-10T14:50:22Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > Alan because, well, it is my middle name. Mine too. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-variation-of-this-name-is-most-common-to-you/692636/44 "2014-07-10T15:08:11Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > 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. Charles, though it looks funny as a first name. IMO, of course. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-variation-of-this-name-is-most-common-to-you/692636/45 "2014-07-10T15:12:48Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > Charles, though it looks funny as a first name. IMO, of course. 🙂 Just curious: how many Charles Greg (Gregg most likely) do you know of? ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-variation-of-this-name-is-most-common-to-you/692636/46 "2014-07-10T16:08:54Z")
Alan as a first name, Allen as a last name. I picked “Alan,” assuming that the OP was interested in first names. BTW, I do have a friend with the last name “Allyn.” ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-variation-of-this-name-is-most-common-to-you/692636/47 "2014-07-10T18:27:28Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Alan as a first name, Allen as a last name. I picked “Alan,” assuming that the OP was interested in first names. I voted other. My reasoning was identical up to the last part. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-variation-of-this-name-is-most-common-to-you/692636/48 "2014-07-10T18:36:01Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Said another way, of the people you know of with the name what’s the most common spelling? Just to clarify: when you say “people you know of with the name” are you including those who have it as a last name? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-variation-of-this-name-is-most-common-to-you/692636/49 "2014-07-10T18:37:26Z")
As a first name: Allan. As a last name: Allen. People who spell it “Alyn” are not to be trusted and probably from Canada. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-variation-of-this-name-is-most-common-to-you/692636/50 "2014-07-10T18:54:59Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Just to clarify: when you say “people you know of with the name” are you including those who have it as a last name? Sure. I’m very sorry my wording was iffy in the OP. I should have said “the name in any position in a person’s appellation” if I had been thinking of how it might be misconstrued. In my own experience, I find it rare that Alan is a surname, where Allen is often such. All three are seen as given names, with Alan probably most frequent. I only put Allyn in the poll because I have at least seen that spelling somewhere along the way. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-variation-of-this-name-is-most-common-to-you/692636/51 "2014-07-10T19:37:14Z")
Allyns exist? Really? ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-variation-of-this-name-is-most-common-to-you/692636/52 "2014-07-10T21:02:20Z")
Reminds me of the old Dick Van Dyke show where Laura was pregnant–no wait, you couldn’t say that, it was “expecting”–and Rob’s boss Alan Brady (played by Carl Reiner) gave Dick a list of ways to spell Alan so he could name the baby after him. ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-variation-of-this-name-is-most-common-to-you/692636/53 "2014-07-11T00:21:50Z")
Allan as a first name, Allen as a last name. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-variation-of-this-name-is-most-common-to-you/692636/54 "2014-07-11T00:27:46Z")
A year or two ago, I had a student named “Alon.” Pronounced the same as the other choices. Likable kid. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-variation-of-this-name-is-most-common-to-you/692636.md?page=2)