Allen

An Irish surname of Antrim and Dublin. In the 2010 US census it was carried by 482,607 people, the 33rd most common surname in the country.

Allen is the anglicised form of four distinct Irish names. Some you can hear in the English name; others look and sound nothing like it, and were simply swapped for it.

Ailéin, son of Alan (a Breton personal name introduced by the Normans). This family stood in Co. Dublin and Co. Kildare.

Ailín, son of Ailwin (Anglo-Saxon Æthelwine)

Ó Hailín

Ó Hallamhain

Where the name comes from

Allen is four names wearing one coat. Ailéin is son of Alan, a Breton personal name introduced by the Normans; families of it came into Ireland at the time of the invasion and settled in Dublin, Kildare and other parts of Leinster.

Ailín is son of Ailwin, the Anglo-Saxon Æthelwine, an English family who settled in Ireland at or soon after the invasion. It can hardly now be distinguished from the first, which is a polite way of saying the two have been mistaken for each other for eight hundred years.

The other two grew here rather than arriving. Ó hAilín is descendant of Ailín, from ail, noble or rock, a rare surname found chiefly in Ormond and Offaly; and Ó hAllamhain is a variant of Ó Fallamhain that lost its f to aspiration, which is how Hallan and Allan turn into Allen.

The Giant's Causeway at twilight with wet hexagonal basalt columns stretching to the sea and long exposure blurred waves
The Giant's Causeway, Co. Antrim

The Allen counties, photographed

Antrim

The Antrim coast road runs about 25 miles between the cliffs and the sea, with nine glens coming down to it. The rock is basalt, the same flow that formed the Giant's Causeway. Scotland is 12 miles off at the narrowest point and visible on a clear day.

The iconic Dark Hedges beech tree tunnel near Armoy in County Antrim with intertwined branches forming a brooding canopyThe Dark Hedges, Co. Antrim Co. Antrim Long exposure of Pan's Rock with its footbridge at dawn on the Antrim Causeway Coast, silky water and blurred clouds, Rathlin Island on the horizonPan's Rock, Co. Antrim Co. Antrim Sunrise over Colliery Bay with Fair Head cliffs and mountains, Co. Antrim, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxColliery Bay & Fair Head, Co. Antrim Co. Antrim Dunluce Castle on coastal cliffs with long exposure sea, Co. Antrim, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxDunluce Castle, Co. Antrim Co. Antrim Black and white photograph of a rainstorm sweeping across the Skerries islands off the North Antrim coast near PortrushRainstorm, the Skerries, Co. Antrim Co. Antrim Sunset over Bengore Head with waves rolling over rocks, Co. Antrim, Ireland — fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxBengore Head, Co. Antrim Co. Antrim Sunset over the Skerries coast in County Antrim with warm light reflecting on wet sand and rock formationsThe Skerries, Co. Antrim Co. Antrim

Dublin

Dublin is a county as well as a city. The bay has Howth at the north end and Killiney Hill at the south, the Muglins are a pair of rocks off Dalkey, and the Dublin Mountains start about half an hour from the city centre.

Moonlight reflecting on the sea near the Muglins lighthouse off Dalkey Island, Dublin, with the Kish light on the horizonThe Muglins by Moonlight II Co. Dublin Long exposure panoramic view of the White Rock swimming platform at Killiney Bay, Dublin, floating in misty high-tide watersThe White Rock, Killiney Bay, Co. Dublin Co. Dublin Heron fishing at dawn on the Dublin coast — fine art wildlife photograph by Peter CoxHeron, Co. Dublin Co. Dublin

All Antrim prints · All Dublin prints

Notable bearers

Woody Allen (born 1935), actor, writer, and screenwriter.

Paul Allen (1953-2018), musician, composer, and film producer.

Lily Allen (born 1985), actor, singer, and musician.

Tim Allen (born 1953), actor, screenwriter, and film director.

Joan Allen (born 1956), actor.

About this page

The counties on this page are where the name was thickest on the ground in Ireland a century and a half ago, not a claim about any one family. Names moved around inside the country as much as they left it. The photographs are mine, made in the counties named.

More Irish surnames: Smith · Brown · Miller · Wilson · Anderson · Thomas · Taylor · Moore · Jackson · Martin · Lee · Thompson

How common the name was

In 1890, 163 births were registered under Allen in Ireland, most of them in Antrim, Armagh, and Dublin.

Ulster 102
Leinster 37
Munster 15
Connacht 9
Ireland 163

Armagh is the one I haven't worked in.