How to say it
a · LAN · na
/əˈlæn.ə/
Feminine
Alanna
O child, or fair
What it means
Partly the feminine of Alan ('handsome' or 'little rock'), partly from the Irish endearment a leanbh, 'O child.'
Alanna sits on two roots. One is the feminine of Alan, a Breton-Irish name usually read as 'handsome' or 'little rock.' The other is the tender Irish address a leanbh, 'O child,' which Irish-American speakers anglicized as alanna, a word you'd murmur to a baby. Tamora Pierce's knight-heroine Alanna gave it a fantasy-adventure edge. Lana and Allie are the natural shorts.
Popularity over time
peaked at #280 in 2025, currently #280 in 2025.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, names given to at least 5 babies in a year, 1880–present. See where the names are moving
Heads-up notes
- Spelling
Alana, Alanna, and Alannah are all in use; the double-n and -ah endings are the dressier ones.
- Nickname
Lana and Allie both drop out easily.
Who's worn it
Historical figures, characters, and public faces who share the name. The cultural surface, for whatever weight you want to give it.
- Alanna the knight-heroine of Tamora Pierce's Song of the Lioness series
Spelling variants
- Alana
- Alannah
- Alanah
Names with the same feeling
See Alanna from another angle
By meaning
By style