Alanna

About Alanna

Alanna is a feminine form of Alan, a name with an old Breton history and an uncertain original meaning. Its three syllables and doubled n distinguish it from the shorter Alan and the closely related Alana. Fantasy heroine Alanna of Trebond is a particularly memorable literary bearer.

Origin and pronunciation

Alan was used in Brittany by at least the sixth century. One proposed explanation connects it with a Brythonic expression meaning “little rock”; another looks to the name of the Alans, an Iranian people who migrated into Europe. Neither explanation is certain.

Alanna carries that uncertainty through its connection with Alan. Alana, Alannah, and Alaina are related feminine forms, while Lana is an established shortening. The longer spelling does not require a different root from the other members of the family.

English pronunciations include uh-LAN-uh and uh-LAHN-uh, both stressed in the middle. The final a gives the name an open ending, while the doubled n is a written distinction rather than an extra syllable.

Alanna of Trebond

Tamora Pierce introduced Alanna of Trebond in Alanna: The First Adventure, published in 1983. Alanna wants to train as a knight, while her twin brother Thom wants to study magic. They exchange places so that each can pursue the future denied by their expected roles.

Alanna takes the name Alan while training as a page at the king's castle. The near match between her real and assumed names makes the disguise especially visible to readers, even as the character must conceal it from those around her.

Her story continues through The Song of the Lioness quartet. It combines martial training, magic, friendship, and the difficulty of judging whom to trust. The series gives Alanna an association with a specific heroine and an extended fantasy world, rather than a name appearing only once in a minor role.

Alanna Smith and basketball

Australian basketball player Alanna Smith has represented the Opals at the Olympic Games. She was part of the team that won bronze at Paris in 2024, adding a sporting association to the name's literary one.

The Opals recovered from an opening loss to Nigeria to reach the later stages of the tournament. Smith's Olympic career places the name in international team sport, alongside its long-running visibility on the covers of Pierce's books.

Her exact spelling is Alanna, with the doubled n, rather than Alana. That makes her a direct modern bearer of the form represented in these American records.

American popularity

In the United States, Alanna was given to 541 girls in 2000 and 573 in 2010. Its recent growth has been stronger than those relatively similar earlier counts suggest.

In 2025 the name reached 1,099 girls and #280, the highest count and best rank in the local SSA series. That peak follows decades of established use, placing Alanna's strongest recorded American year well after the first publication of its best-known fantasy story.

How popular is Alanna?

In 2025, Alanna ranked #280 among girls in the United States, with 1,099 recorded uses. The U.S. birth records first list this spelling for girls in 1930; its largest annual count was 1,099 in 2025. Rankings count each spelling separately. They describe national use, so local familiarity can differ. The popularity chart shows whether the name has remained common, returned after a quieter period, or risen recently.