Alan (given name) masculine given name in the Welsh language; although it is not directly related to "Alan" (it is derived from Proto-Celtic "*alouno-" meaning either "nourishing" or "wandering"), today it is generally used as a variant form of the English name. An earlier bearer of this name is Alun of Dyfed, a character in the "Mabinogion". The name became popular in modern times when it was adopted as a bardic name by John Blackwell, a 19th-century Welsh poet. The short form of "Alan" is "Al". This name is a short form of numerous other etymologically unrelated names that begin with this syllable.
Jennifer (given name) in the United States in 1992 and out of the top 100 in 2009. Jennifer (given name) Jennifer is a feminine given name, the Cornish form of Guinevere, adopted into the English language during the 20th century. "Jennifer" may mean "the fair one" (from Proto-Celtic *"Windo"-"seibrā"). A Cornish form, it is cognate with the Welsh form Gwenhwyfar and with the Old Irish Findabair. Despite the name's similarity to the Old English words "jenefer", "genefer" and "jinifer", all of which were variants of Juniper used to describe the juniper tree, there is no evidence that it comes from these. A common