Ali

What Ali means

Means “high, exalted”

From Arabic عَلِيّ (ʕaliyy, literally “high, exalted”), from the Arabic root ع ل ي (ʕ l y).

Source: Wiktionary, “Ali” (revision 94465833), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Ali?

US: Steady: #325 in 2015, #306 now. England & Wales: Rising: up from #137 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2025, when 1,116 boys got the name (#306 that year). First in the US records in 1914.

How common

• About 1 in 1,531 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 542 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 578 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in MI (3.91 per 1,000 boys), DC (1.98 per 1,000 boys), NY (1.37 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Ali is #306 in the US and #103 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 96.2% of US babies named Ali were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Eli3,418 US · 373 E&W
• Ely49 US · 3 E&W
• Oli15 US · 23 E&W
• Ilai23 US · 4 E&W
• Ole21 US
• Elai16 US · 3 E&W
• Aly14 US · 4 E&W
• Alieu11 US · 5 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

Spelling variants on Wiktionary

• Aly
• Alee

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

If you like Ali

Boys

• Amir#105“commander, prince”^*
• Yousef#744Editor’s note Up from #788 in 2015 to #744 in 2025 in the US
• Zayd#632Editor’s note More popular in England & Wales than the US: #181 vs #632 in 2025
• Ameer#980Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1969, with 14 babies
• Muhammad#239“praised, commendable, laudable”^*
• Zahir#738Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1973, with 7 babies

For a sister

• Maryam#351Editor’s note More popular in England & Wales than the US: #52 vs #351 in 2025
• Zahra#538Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1973, with 8 babies
• Amina#315“faithful, trustworthy”^*
• Noor#659“light”^*
• Zara#212“flower”^*
• Amira#132“princess”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Arabic, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Ali’s. Rank is US 2025.