(no subject)

[ifancylust.livejournal.com]

i know a few people with the name allen/alan. all of the ones named alan happen to be jewish and all of the ones who spell it allen, aren't jewish. is this just a strange coincidence? for example, none of the guys named "owen" that i know are irish, but i do know an "eoin" who is irish. is there some sort of similar connection with judaism when it comes to the name alan?

ps: i know this is worded so awkwardly. i didn't know how else to say it.

Comments

[adamantplatypus.livejournal.com]

The Alan I know is not Jewish. Then again, I know very few Jewish folks. I guess it's all in who you know.

[ifancylust.livejournal.com]

yeah, i suppose. i guess it's just a weird coincidence after all.

[lovablemess.livejournal.com]

I had two Jewish cousins named Alan. I don't know if it's coincidence or not.

[http://users.livejournal.com/__recidivist/]

Alan/Allen isn't a Jewish name. It's a coincidence.

Eoin/Eóin is a Gaelic spelling (of Ian, though, not Owen, even though it sounds like "Owen". Other languages are confusing!). Since Eoin is Gaelic, it makes sense that Eoin is Irish, while Owen is not. As a matter of fact, Owen is a Welsh name, but it's Anglicized and therefore much more common.

[jordiss.livejournal.com]

That's weird.

I'm of no help, the only people I know have it as their last name, not first name, and it's Allan. And they aren't Jewish, haha.

[arbus.livejournal.com]

allen is french, i believe. or french canadian at least.

its funny you mention this, because now that i think about it, the couple of alans i know are jewish too. i only know one allen and he is from a long line of french canadians, with allens everywhere in the family.

[freezemyazaleas.livejournal.com]

I know one Alan and one Allen. The Alan is Jewish and the Allen is not. Maybe there is a connection.

[lilacmermaid.livejournal.com]

I've never heard this ... the only French people I know with Allan-like names are all Alain.

[arbus.livejournal.com]

i have heard alain too, which is why i said maybe its more french canadian. i dont know. was just a shot in the dark.

[cremepuff.livejournal.com]

The sites I found suggest that Alan is of Old German origin, or possibly Celtic. If the German theory is correct, maybe a lot of Jewish people use that spelling because their grandparents or great-grandparents lived in that region of Europe and so the spelling got passed down that way.

Or maybe it's just a really freaky coincidence.

I've known an Allen and an Alan, and sure enough Alan was Jewish and Allen was not.

[zante.livejournal.com]

My dad's middle name is Allan :) And we're not jewish

[mrssubee.livejournal.com]

my husband is Allan and is Jewish- his Hebrew name is Alon- pronounced kind of like "alone"
I actually think there is no significant meaning behind the spellings

[satunian.livejournal.com]

The only Allen I know IS Jewish Lol, so I really don't know. Coincidence?

[inthespaces.livejournal.com]

The rabbi that married us was named Allen, so I can't say what you're saying is always true.

[ifancylust.livejournal.com]

hmm. maybe you're right.