Ailean

Girls' name

English equivalent of Alan

Ailean has been given to 22 babies in the U.S. since 1923. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1928, with 6 recorded.

Babies named Ailean, 1929

1 in 365,000

Ailean over time, 1880–2025

Girls

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Ailean: meaning, origin, and history

English equivalent of Alan

Celtic languages

What Ailean means

Ailean is a English equivalent of Alan.

Origin, language, and formation

Ailean is used in Scottish Gaelic. Its origins include Celtic languages.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Alan.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Scottish Gaelic, Ailean is pronounced /ˈalan/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 22 girls were recorded with the name Ailean between 1923 and 1929. Its highest annual count was 6 in 1928; its best national rank was #4,055 in 1929.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Ailean?

Ailean had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 1929, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 1929: 1 in 365,000; 6 of 2,192,103 births
Among girls only: 1 in 186,000; <0.01% of girls
Rank, 1929: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 253,243 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Ailean sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 1929 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 253,243 children born in 1929 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Ailean. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Aileans were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Ailean was born before 1928 — so the typical Ailean is around 97 today.

Median birth year: 1928; About 97 years old
Biggest decade: 1920s; 100.0% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 100.0%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 0; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1920s — 100.0% of all recorded uses (22).

Is Ailean rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: —; Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago: New entry; Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago: —; Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago: —; Not published both years
Share of its own peak: 0%; Peak was 1928 (6)
Years since peak: 97; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Steady; 10.0% average annual change
Best rank ever: #4,055; 1929

Spellings of Ailean

Ailean is not the most common spelling — Eileen is, with 50.1% against Ailean's <0.01%.

Eileen50.1%189,614
Aileen9.9%37,637
Lilian5.4%20,470
Aleah4.4%16,592
Arleen3.3%12,611
Ailany2.9%11,160
Milan2.5%9,557
Ailani2.1%7,899

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Ailean around the world

Where Ailean ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

France
2005–2005
#5,084
in 2005

Popularity data from Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0.

Ailean by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #4,055; 1929
Peak year: 1928; 6 that year
First recorded: 1923
Last recorded: 1929
All-time count: 22
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Ailean

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Ailina Aileny Ailanis Aileigh Aileth Ailith Ailena Ailanee Ailanna Ailiany Ailiana Ailisa Ailleen Ailanii Ailiani Aileah Ailaina Ailyne Ailahni Ailanys Aslean Mclean Ailise Ailyah

Sibling names for Ailean

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Edward Paul Charline Germaine Darline Marvel Richard Leatrice

For a brother

Frances Jules Bud Rolland Normand Laverne Jewel Carrol

Explore around Ailean

Top names of 1928, Ailean's peak year The 1920s in full Other names that peaked in 1929 Girls' names starting with A