Head to head · Boys' names
Ali vs Remington
#306 vs #307 in 2025
Ali is a whisker ahead (#306 vs #307 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Ali is holding its place on the charts, Remington is stepping back from its peak.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Ali leads 5 measures of 6; Remington leads 1.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1910s: Ali #3264, Remington — — Ali higher
- 1920s: Ali #3924, Remington — — Ali higher
- 1930s: Ali #3230, Remington — — Ali higher
- 1940s: Ali #2953, Remington — — Ali higher
- 1950s: Ali #1977, Remington #3886 — Ali higher
- 1960s: Ali #1245, Remington — — Ali higher
- 1970s: Ali #652, Remington #5845 — Ali higher
- 1980s: Ali #524, Remington #1281 — Ali higher
- 1990s: Ali #441, Remington #865 — Ali higher
- 2000s: Ali #369, Remington #785 — Ali higher
- 2010s: Ali #335, Remington #338 — Ali higher
- 2020s: Ali #317, Remington #263 — Remington higher
Ali stood higher in 11 of 12 decades; Remington took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Ali | Remington |
|---|---|---|
| 1910s | #3264 | — |
| 1920s | #3924 | — |
| 1930s | #3230 | — |
| 1940s | #2953 | — |
| 1950s | #1977 | #3886 |
| 1960s | #1245 | — |
| 1970s | #652 | #5845 |
| 1980s | #524 | #1281 |
| 1990s | #441 | #865 |
| 2000s | #369 | #785 |
| 2010s | #335 | #338 |
| 2020s | #317 | #263 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Ali
- Canada#70
- France#73
Remington
Not charting outside the US.
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Ali
High, elevated, exalted
From the Arabic adjective ʿalī. Al-ʿAlī, "the Most High," is one of the names of God in Islam, which is why the human name is often given in the form Abd al-Ali in some families.
ʿalīy (Arabic, "high, exalted") → ʿAlī → Ali → Alija
How it traveled
" Its standing as a personal name rests above all on Ali ibn Abi Talib, cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, the fourth caliph and, for Shia Muslims, the first Imam — a figure of the seventh century whose name spread wherever Islam went. From Arabia it reached North and West Africa, Anatolia, Persia, the Indian subcontinent, the Malay world and the Balkans, taking local shapes such as Bosnian Alija while the base form stayed intact.
Remington
from an English place name: 'farmstead by the boundary stream'
The place is Rimington in Lancashire, built from Old English rima, 'rim, edge, border', and tūn, 'farmstead, settlement'. As with almost all surname-names, the meaning belongs to the village, not to any quality of a person.
Rimington (Lancashire place name) → Remington (English surname) → Remington (American given name)
How it traveled
The trail starts with a small settlement in Lancashire, named for its position on a boundary — the edge of one holding, the beginning of another. Families who came from there carried the place with them as a surname, and the surname sailed to North America, where it attached itself to two enterprises that made it a household word: the arms company founded by Eliphalet Remington in 1816, and the writing machine sold under the Remington name from the 1870s, the one that gave the world the QWERTY keyboard.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Ali
AH-lee
Arabic and Turkish speakers say AH-lee with the weight on the first syllable. In American English you will also hear ah-LEE, stressed on the second, the way Muhammad Ali's name is usually said. Both are widely accepted; deciding which one your family uses early saves repeating it later.
- Ali — Already short; most bearers use the full name in every setting, formal and casual alike.
- Al — An English-language shortening picked up in American schools and workplaces; also stands alone as a name in its own right.
- Aly — A spelling variant more than a nickname, common in Egyptian and French transliteration and used as a full given name.
Remington
REM-ing-tun
Stress on the first syllable. There is only one pronunciation in English, and the spelling gives it away, so it is rarely said wrong.
- Remi — The most common short form in American use, for boys and girls alike; also an independent given name in its own right, from the French Rémi.
- Remy — Same short form, the spelling more often seen for boys; likewise stands alone as a full name.
- Rem — A clipped, informal one-syllable version used at home and among friends.
- Remmy — Informal and affectionate, mostly used by family in the early years.
- Also Ronnie.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Ali if you want…
- a name on the way upup 18 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesAli is 2 syllables to Remington's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooAli is on the national lists of Canada and France
Choose Remington if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsRemington is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itRemington runs 3 syllables, Ali 2
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Remi, Remy and Rem
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Ali
Strengths
- Three letters, spelled the way it sounds — rarely misspelled once heard, and it fits any form field.
- Recognized on sight across Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Urdu, Bosnian, Swahili and Malay-speaking communities, with no change of spelling.
- An unbroken record of use since the seventh century, so it has never had to be revived.
To consider
- In English-speaking countries Ali is also a short form of Alice, Alison and Alexandra, so a boy named Ali will occasionally be recorded as a girl on a form or a class list. It sorts itself out in person, but expect it.
- Two pronunciations circulate in the US — AH-lee and ah-LEE — and your son will hear both. Some families settle on one and correct gently; others let it ride.
- For many people the first association is Muhammad Ali, and for Shia Muslims the name carries deep religious weight. Neither is a problem, but both mean the name arrives with something already attached.
Remington
Strengths
- The spelling is already familiar to nearly every American adult from the typewriter and firearms brands, so it is almost never misspelled or mispronounced.
- Comes with ready-made short forms — Remi, Remy, Rem — each of which works on its own as a full name.
- Works for a boy or a girl without alteration, in the same way surname-names like Harper and Emerson do.
To consider
- The firearms company is the strongest association the name carries for many adults, and some people will mention it. Others will think of the typewriter first, or of nothing in particular. Worth knowing that the connection exists rather than meeting it by surprise.
- It leans toward boys but is genuinely given to girls too, so the name alone will not always tell a teacher or a form-filler which is which. The smaller side of that split is the one likelier to be assumed wrong.
- Ten letters and three syllables is a lot for a young child to write, and Remi or Rem will probably do most of the daily work — which is fine, but it means choosing a short form you can live with as well.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Ali and Remington in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Ali and Remington?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap
More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Ali and Remington — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Ali or Remington — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Ali or Remington?
- Ali, in 2025: Ali ranked #306 with 1,116 babies; Remington ranked #307 with 1,105 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Ali or Remington?
- Ali. Over the last five years Ali moved up 18 places; Remington moved down 77 places.
- Which is the older name, Ali or Remington?
- Ali entered the US charts in 1914; Remington entered the US charts in 1955. On the American record, Ali is the older name.
- How many people are named Ali and Remington?
- About 33,500 people named Ali are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 23,500 people named Remington are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Alis or Remingtons in the classroom?
- Ali will almost certainly be the only one in school. Remington will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Ali, Remington and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap