Given name & surname
Ilan
“of the tree”
Ilan is used as a given name and a surname. One Hebrew interpretation is “of the tree.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Hebrew interpretation is “of the tree.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Hebrew.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1965. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Ilan through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 3,290
- 3,231 boys · 59 girls
- Most popular year
- 2023
- 153 babies
- 2025
- 124
- #1,445 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +4%
- Steady
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 124 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 1,445 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 9.0% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. In 2025, Texas had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (24). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 3,084 as a first name in 2020; 172 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Ilan’s family of names
Ilan is a masculine form of Ilana. In English usage, Ilan has a related form in Alan. Ilan has a feminine form in Ilana.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 20
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 2
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Ilan
- Ilan PappéIsraeli-British historian (born 1954)
- Ilan GilonIsraeli politician (1956–2022)
- Ilan Van WilderBelgian cyclistborn 2000
- Ilan EshkeriEnglish film composer (*1977)
- Ilan Mitchell-SmithAmerican academic and former actor (born 1969)
- Ilan HaleviJewish P.L.O journalist, politician (1943–2013)
- Ilan BoccaraDutch footballer (born 1993)
- Ilan ChesterIsraeli-Venezuelan musician and composerborn 1952
- Ilan HalimiMurdered French And Moroccan Jew (1982-2006)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
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