Alana
A feminine name of Celtic origin meaning "child" or "precious".
Name Census estimates that about 63,370 living Americans carry the first name Alana. It sits at #143 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Alana today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Alana births was 2007 (2,461 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Alana. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Alana with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
63K
~ 1 in 5,409 Americans
Peak year
2007
2,461 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2004 SSA rank
#143
Tracked since 1930
Census
Alana in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 54,144 people with the first name Alana, which placed it at #848 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#848
National first-name rank
People counted
54K
54,144 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
17.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
51.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Alana
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alana is White at 51.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.9%) and Black (17.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Alana described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Alana at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White51.9% · 28,103
- Hispanic or Latino17.9% · 9,695
- Black or African American17.3% · 9,361
- Two or more races8.6% · 4,673
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.4% · 1,826
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 486
Gender
Gender distribution for Alana
Out of the 66,187 babies given the name Alana since 1880, 100.0% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Alana as a male name
- Ranked #8,956 in 2004
- 7 male births in 2004
- Peak: 1985 (8 births)
Alana as a female name
- Ranked #143 in 2024
- 2,054 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2007 (2,461 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Alana appears almost entirely female. Of the 54,144 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Alana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Alana from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 17,946 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Alana remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Alana by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Alana during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Alanas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Alana, while North Dakota, Vermont, Wyoming recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,233 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Alana
The name Alana has its origins in the Gaelic language, specifically in Irish and Scottish Gaelic. It is derived from the old Gaelic word "alaine," which means "beautiful" or "handsome." This name has been in use since the Middle Ages in Ireland and Scotland.
Alana was a popular name among the ancient Celtic peoples who inhabited the British Isles. It is believed to have been used as early as the 5th century AD, particularly among the Irish and Scottish clans. The name is mentioned in several ancient Irish and Scottish texts, including the Annals of Ulster and the Book of Leinster.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Alana is found in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. The entry from the year 1092 mentions an "Alana ingen Ragnaill," which translates to "Alana, daughter of Ragnaill." This suggests that the name was in use among the Irish nobility during the 11th century.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals named Alana. One of the most famous was Alana of Gwynedd, a 13th-century Welsh princess who was born around 1246. She was the daughter of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, the last sovereign prince of Wales.
Another notable Alana was Alana Bray, an English courtier and lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth I. She was born in the mid-16th century and served at the royal court from 1559 until her death in 1596.
In the 17th century, there was Alana Beatrice Howard, an English aristocrat and courtier. She was born in 1634 and was a member of the influential Howard family.
Moving to the 20th century, one of the most well-known Alanas was Alana Parnell, an American actress and dancer. She was born in 1923 and had a successful career on Broadway and in Hollywood, appearing in several films and television shows.
Lastly, Alana Blanchard is a professional surfer from Hawaii who was born in 1990. She has won several surfing competitions and has been a popular figure in the surfing community.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals named Alana throughout history, showcasing the enduring popularity of this beautiful Gaelic name.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Alana
People
Alana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Alana as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Alana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Alana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 63,370 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Alana going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 5,409 US residents.
Is Alana a common name?
We classify Alana as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 66,187 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Alana most popular?
The single biggest year for Alana was 2007, when 2,461 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Alana is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Alana in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 54,144 people with the name Alana, or 17.93 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #848 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Alana in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Alana?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Alana appears almost entirely female. Of the 54,144 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Alana?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alana is White at 51.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.9%) and Black (17.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Alana most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Alana in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.9% (28,103 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Alana in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Alana a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Alana in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Alana still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Alana in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Alana can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Alana?
See how many Americans are named Alana on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.