Alac
An English surname derived from the Middle English "alac," meaning alert or lively.
Name Census estimates that about 11 living Americans carry the first name Alac. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Alac today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Alac births was 2001 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Alac. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Alac. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
11
~ 1 in 31,159,485 Americans
Peak year
2001
6 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2001 SSA rank
#9,276
Tracked since 1994
Popularity
Alac: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Alac from the 1990s through to the 2000s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 6 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Alac by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Alac during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Alac
The name Alac is believed to have originated in the ancient Turkic languages spoken in Central Asia, particularly in the region of modern-day Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. It is thought to be derived from the Turkic word "alaq," which means "variegated" or "multicolored." This suggests that the name may have been initially given to individuals with distinctive physical features or perhaps those of mixed ethnic backgrounds.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Alac can be found in the Orkhon inscriptions, a series of ancient Turkic runic inscriptions dating back to the 8th century AD. These inscriptions were erected in honor of the Göktürk rulers and provide valuable insights into the history and culture of the Turkic peoples during that era.
In medieval Islamic literature, there are a few references to individuals bearing the name Alac. Most notably, Alac al-Din Husayn, a 13th-century Persian poet and scholar from Nishapur, is mentioned in several historical accounts. His exact dates of birth and death are uncertain, but he is believed to have lived during the latter half of the 13th century.
During the Ottoman Empire, the name Alac was occasionally used, although it was not particularly common. One notable bearer of the name was Alac Bey, a 16th-century Ottoman statesman and military commander who served under Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. He played a significant role in the Ottoman conquests in the Balkans and is mentioned in various Ottoman chronicles.
In more recent history, Alac Ertekin (1913-1983) was a prominent Turkish painter and sculptor known for his contributions to the contemporary art scene in Turkey. He was born in Istanbul and studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Istanbul before going on to have a successful career as an artist.
Another notable figure with the name Alac was Alac Vahap Zaimoglu (1926-2010), a Turkish writer and journalist. He was born in Adana and worked as a journalist for various publications, including the influential Turkish newspaper Hürriyet. He also authored several books and was known for his political commentary and criticism of the Turkish government.
It is worth noting that while the name Alac has its roots in the Turkic languages, it has been adopted and used in various cultures and regions throughout history, although its popularity has remained relatively limited compared to other names.
People
Alac + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Alac as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Alac: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Alac?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Alac going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 31,159,485 US residents.
Is Alac a common name?
We classify Alac as "Very Rare". It ranks above 30.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Alac most popular?
The single biggest year for Alac was 2001, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Alac is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Alac in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Alac a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Alac in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Alac still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Alac in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Alac can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are named Alac?
Find out how many people share the name Alac on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.