Allison

What Allison means

Form of Elon, meaning “oak tree”

form of Alan || Borrowed from Hebrew אֵילֹן (ʼÊlōn, literally “oak tree”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Allison” (revision 94534391) and “Elon” (revision 94539075), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Allison?

US: Falling: down from #39 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #3615 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1995, when 8,126 girls got the name (#34 that year). First in the US records in 1908.

How common

• About 1 in 627 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 28,142 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 NV (3.59 per 1,000 girls), DE (3.55 per 1,000 girls), NH (3.16 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Allison is #103 in the US and #2788 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.8% of US babies named Allison 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

• Alison644 US · 17 E&W
• Alisson580 US
• Ellison228 US
• Allyson203 US
• Alyson157 US
• Allisson62 US
• Alysson41 US
• Ellisyn38 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

• Alison
• Alyson
• Allyson

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

Nicknames

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

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

If you like Allison

Girls

• Taylor#403From the word “tailor”^*
• Paige#346possibly “servant”^*
• Kimberly#302Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #108 in 2015, #302 in 2025
• Brooke#313Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1996, with 6,724 babies; 972 in 2025
• Alyssa#453“a plant of the genus Alyssum”^*
• Shelby#649Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1991, with 10,220 babies; 444 in 2025

For a brother

• Brandon#261“broom shrub + hill, dune”^*
• Troy#532Editor’s note Down from #300 in 2015 to #532 in 2025 in the US
• Tyler#219“tiler”^*
• William#9“will + helmet”^*
• Ryan#99Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1985, with 29,905 babies; 3,532 in 2025
• Derrick#850Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #384 in 2015, #850 in 2025

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