The story in the numbers

271,282 boys have been named Allen in the United States since 1880, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1951, with 5,179 births — 0.28% of all boys recorded that year.

It is holding steady: its share of births has moved by less than half in either direction over ten years (rank 367 → 573).

Half of everyone given the name was born by 1957, and the 1950s alone account for 17%. It has spent 145 of 145 years in the top 1,000, 83 of them in the top 100.

It is overwhelmingly a boy’s name: 1,866 girls have also been given it, 0.68% of the total.

Rank among boys, year by year

By decade

Decade

boys named Allen

1,998

2,002

2,558

11,493

20,092

24,357

39,047

47,321

37,695

21,672

21,910

16,952

12,576

8,816

2,793

In 1951, its biggest year

Allen was the 72nd most given boy’s name that year. The top five boys’ names of 1951 were James, Robert, John, Michael and David. See all of 1951.

Names that rose and fell with Allen

Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.

Other spellings in the data

What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.