Alanah
Feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "oak tree".
Name Census estimates that about 4,104 living Americans carry the first name Alanah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Alanah today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Alanah births was 2008 (223 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Alanah. 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 Alanah with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Alanah is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
4.1K
~ 1 in 83,517 Americans
Peak year
2008
223 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,213
Tracked since 1984
Census
Alanah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,082 people with the first name Alanah, which placed it at #5,532 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
#5,532
National first-name rank
People counted
3.1K
3,082 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
35.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Alanah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alanah is White at 35.6%. The next largest groups are Black (27.5%) and Hispanic (23.0%). 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 Alanah 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 Alanah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White35.6% · 1,097
- Black or African American27.5% · 847
- Hispanic or Latino23.0% · 708
- Two or more races11.5% · 353
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 56
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 21
Popularity
Alanah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Alanah from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,660 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Alanah 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 Alanah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Alanahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 26 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Alanah, while South Carolina, Minnesota, Oklahoma recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 92 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Alanah
The name Alanah is believed to have its origins in the Gaelic language, spoken primarily in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. It is thought to be a feminine form of the name Alan, which is derived from the ancient Brittonic Celtic name Alen or Alanus, meaning "little rock" or "handsome."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Alanah can be found in the Annals of Ulster, an ancient chronicle of medieval Irish history. The entry from the year 1028 mentions an Irish noblewoman named Alanah, suggesting the name's usage in Ireland during that time period.
In the 12th century, Alanah was the name of a Welsh princess who married Rhys ap Gruffydd, the Lord of Deheubarth in South Wales. This historical figure is mentioned in several medieval Welsh chronicles, solidifying the presence of the name in Celtic cultures.
During the Renaissance period, Alanah Blackwood (1495-1563) was a renowned Scottish herbalist and apothecary. She is credited with publishing one of the earliest books on herbal remedies in the English language, further cementing the name's Scottish heritage.
In the 17th century, Alanah O'Malley (1610-1682) was an Irish pirate queen who commanded a fleet of ships and terrorized the coastlines of Ireland and Scotland. Her fearless exploits earned her a place in maritime history and folklore.
In more recent times, Alanah Rae (1986-) is a Canadian actress and video game journalist, known for her work in the gaming industry and her advocacy for women in the field. Her prominence has contributed to the increased popularity of the name Alanah in North America.
While the name Alanah has its roots in the Celtic cultures of the British Isles, its usage has spread to various parts of the world, including North America, Australia, and parts of Europe. It continues to be a popular choice for parents seeking a unique and historically significant name for their daughters.
People
Alanah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Alanah 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
Alanah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Alanah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,104 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Alanah 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 83,517 US residents.
Is Alanah a common name?
We classify Alanah as "Rare". It ranks above 96.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,159 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Alanah most popular?
The single biggest year for Alanah was 2008, when 223 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Alanah is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Alanah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,082 people with the name Alanah, or 1.02 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,532 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 Alanah 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 Alanah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Alanah appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,081 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Alanah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alanah is White at 35.6%. The next largest groups are Black (27.5%) and Hispanic (23.0%). 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 Alanah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Alanah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 35.6% (1,097 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 Alanah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Alanah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Alanah 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 Alanah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Alanah 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 Alanah 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 Alanah?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Alanah at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.