Adlai
Masculine
Adlai is given to both — 608 boys and 88 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Adlai peaks in 1892, the year Adlai Stevenson was elected vice president of the United States. His grandson of the same name ran for president twice sixty years later, and the curve shows both.
How old is the name Adlai?
Adlai first appears in US birth records in 1891 — 134 years ago. The typical Adlai alive today was born around 2002, making them about 23 years old. About 500 people named Adlai are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Adlai most popular?
Adlai peaked in 1892, reaching #480 nationally. Today it ranks #10695, 10,215 places below that high. See the whole 1892 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Adlai
The name is one of the obscure Old Testament ones that Protestant families in Britain and America took up on principle, appearing in a single verse with no story attached. It became publicly visible through one family: Adlai Ewing Stevenson served as vice president under Cleveland from 1893, and his grandson and namesake was governor of Illinois and the Democratic presidential candidate in 1952 and 1956. The American records track both, with a sharp peak at the first election and a smaller rise in the 1950s. A name of that kind is unusually well behaved for a historian, since it is rare enough that a single public figure moves the whole curve, and the biblical verse behind it supplies no meaning to complicate the picture.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Adlai appears once in the Hebrew Bible, in Chronicles, as the father of a herdsman of David; its meaning is not established, and glosses such as my ornament or God is just are guesses. The peak is 1892.
Pronouncing Adlai
AD-lay
Two syllables, stress on the first. Some say AD-lye, following the Hebrew, and both are current in America.
Nicknames for Adlai
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1891
- Most boys named
- 195239 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #480reached in 1892
- Change vs 2024
- −14.3%6 in 2025, from 7
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Adlai in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Adlai in Hebrew — same name
Adlais among us
people named Adlai are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 284,679 born in 2025 was named Adlai
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Adlai sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Adlai beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Adlai in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Two syllables and five letters, spelled as heard.
- It is genuinely rare without being invented.
- It has a documented American political history.
- Two pronunciations of the second syllable are in use.
- Its meaning is genuinely unknown.
- The 1892 peak ties it to one election.
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Adlai
Masculine · #10695 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Adlais are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Adlai are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Adlai in 2025?
- Adlai ranks #10695 among US boy names in 2025, with 6 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Adlai?
- About 1 in every 284,679 US boys born in 2025 was named Adlai — 6 in all.
- Will my child share the name Adlai with classmates?
- Adlai will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Adlai
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
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Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Adlai? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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