Aili
Feminine · “holy”
Aili is a Finnish and Sámi name, and it descends by an unexpected route from Helga — a Norse word for holy or blessed.
How old is the name Aili?
Aili first appears in US birth records in 1901 — 124 years ago. The typical Aili alive today was born around 2005, making them about 20 years old. About 1,000 people named Aili are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Aili most popular?
Aili peaked in 1909, reaching #868 nationally. Today it ranks #4067, 3,199 places below that high. See the whole 1909 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Helga to Aili
The story of Aili
Norse names traveled into Sámi and Finnish and were reshaped considerably — Helga became Aili, Margareta became Marit, and the borrowings are old enough that the connections are not obvious. Aili was well used in Finland in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and reaches American records with Finnish emigration to Minnesota and Michigan around 1900.
Meaningscholars disagree
holy, blessed
Aili is generally taken as the Sámi and Finnish development of Helga, from Old Norse heilagr, holy or inviolable. A separate reading treats it as an independent Finnish name. Neither is fully settled.
How the name formed
- Helga
- Aili
Related forms: Aili · Áile · Helga
Pronouncing Aili
EYE-lee
Two syllables, first stressed. Finnish gives both vowels their full value.
Nicknames for Aili
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
- 1901
- Most girls named
- 200945 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #868reached in 1909
- Change vs 2024
- −14.6%35 in 2025, from 41
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.
Aili in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Aili in Finnish — same name
- Áile in Sami — same name
- Helga in Norwegian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Minnesota, Washington.
Ailis among us
people named Aili are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 45,922 born in 2025 was named Aili
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Aili
- #4067
- Aili on the 2025 chart
- #900
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Aili went to 35 girls in 2025, but Aily and Ayli are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 60, which makes it the 900th most-given girls’ name of the year — 3,167 places above the chart.
- Aili35
- Aily13
- Ayli12
About 1 girl in 26,788 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 45,922 for Aili itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Aili 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
Where Aili is headed
Aili should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Aili beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Aili in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Four letters and two syllables, about as easy to write as a name gets.
- A genuine and rather surprising Norse ancestry behind it.
- Substantial turn-of-the-century American use in Finnish communities.
- English readers will not know how to start it and may say AY-lee.
- Aili, Ailie and Aila are all in use and get confused.
- The descent from Helga is standard but not fully settled.
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What they receive
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Aili
Feminine · #4067 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Ailis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Aili are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Aili?
- Aili is the most-used spelling in US records — 35 of the 60 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Aily and Ayli.
- How popular is the name Aili in 2025?
- Aili ranks #4067 among US girl names in 2025, with 35 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Aili?
- About 1 in every 45,922 US girls born in 2025 was named Aili — 35 in all.
- Will my child share the name Aili with classmates?
- Aili will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Aili
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Eli#4067 · Peace#4067 · Medina#4067 · Darlin#4067 · Anja#4067 · Sparrow#4067 · Liani#4067 · Salina#4067
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Aili? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Aili and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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