In Ireland and Scotland there are Gaelic forms of the name which may, or may not be etymologically related to the name introduced by the Bretons. In Breton, alan is a colloquial term for a fox and may originally have meant deer, making it cognate with Old Welsh alan (cf.here are numerous differing etymologies attributed to the name. The name was first introduced into England by Bretons who took part in the Norman Invasion in the 11th century. Today there are numerous variations of Alan, a short form, and there are also numerous feminine forms of the name as well.
About 8.7 million (give or take 1.3 million) is the new, estimated total number of species on Earth -- the most precise calculation ever offered -- with 6.5 million species on land and 2.2 million in oceans. Announced by the Census of Marine Life, the figure is based on a new analytical technique.
Believe it or not, there are about 950,000 species of insects. No one knows for sure how many species of animals exist on Earth. In fact, some 10,000 species of animals are discovered each year, with over one and a half million species already described. Projections for the total number of species on Earth range from 2 million to 50 million.