Alison

What Alison means

Means “of noble kind”

From Middle English Alisoun, from Old French Alison, itself from Alis +‎ -on, with Alis ultimately being from Old High German Adalheid or Adalhaid (“of noble kind”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Alison” (revision 94534384), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Alison?

US: Falling: down from #338 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #1362 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1979, when 2,938 girls got the name (#102 that year). First in the US records in 1905.

How common

• About 1 in 2,496 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 14,899 baby girls in England and Wales 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 ME (1.93 per 1,000 girls), NE (1.13 per 1,000 girls), AL (0.71 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Alison is #476 in the US and #1719 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.2% of US babies named Alison were girls.

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

• Allison2,564 US · 9 E&W
• Alisson580 US
• Ellison228 US
• Allyson203 US
• Alyson157 US
• Allisson62 US
• Alysson41 US
• Allisyn11 US

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

• Allison
• Allisson
• Allyson
• Alyson

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

Nicknames

• Allie
• Alli
• Ally
• Alie
• Ali
• Aly
• Al

Listed on Wiktionary under “Diminutives of the female given name”.

If you like Alison

Girls

• Linda#902“tender, soft”^*
• Alicia#460Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1984, with 7,820 babies; 672 in 2025
• Anne#619Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1959, with 5,745 babies; 472 in 2025
• Alyssa#453“a plant of the genus Alyssum”^*
• Karla#799Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1964, with 2,060 babies; 340 in 2025
• Abby#731Diminutive of Abigail, meaning “my Father's joy”^*

For a brother

• Richard#234“king, ruler + hard, brave”^*
• Jeffrey#552Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #552 vs #1,705 in 2025
• Derrick#850Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #384 in 2015, #850 in 2025
• Robert#92“shining glory”^*
• Raymond#394“advice + protection”^*
• Eric#273Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1970, with 23,571 babies; 1,256 in 2025

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