Ali
Masculine · Arabic roots · “High”
Ali is given to both — 34,383 boys and 10,505 girls since 1880. See Ali as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Three letters, two clear syllables, and a record that runs back to seventh-century Arabia without a break. Ali is spoken daily in Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Urdu, Bosnian, Swahili, Indonesian and English, and it needs no adjustment in any of them — the spelling stays the same, the sound stays close. Few names travel that far with so little wear.
How old is the name Ali?
Ali first appears in US birth records in 1914 — 111 years ago. The typical Ali alive today was born around 2009, making them about 16 years old. About 33,500 people named Ali are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Ali most popular?
Ali peaked in 2022, reaching #301 nationally. Today it ranks #306, 5 places below that high. See the whole 2022 chart.
Ali appears on these lists:
- Hometown favorites: names only one state loves
- Three-letter names: tiny and complete
- France's favorites still rare in America
- Canadian favorites the US overlooks
- Under the radar: quietly excellent picks
- Quiet perennials: a century old, never popular
- all guides
Works in French and Arabic families too:
Where it comes from
From ʿalīy (Arabic, "high, exalted") to Ali
The story of Ali
Ali comes from Arabic ʿalī, "high" or "exalted." 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. In the United States it has been on the books since the early twentieth century, carried first by migration from the Middle East and later by Muslim American families of many backgrounds.
Meaning
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.
How the name formed
- ʿalīyArabic, "high, exalted"
- ʿAlī
- Ali
- Alija
Related forms: عَلِيّ · Ali · Ali · Alija · علی · Aly
Pronouncing 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.
Nicknames for Ali
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
- 1914
- Most boys named
- 20171,116 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #301reached in 2022
- Change vs 2023
- +4.7%1,116 in 2025, from 1,066
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.
Ali in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- عَلِيّ in Arabic — transliteration
- Ali in Turkish — same name
- Ali in Persian — same name
- Alija in Bosnian — related form
- علی in Urdu — transliteration
- Aly in English/French — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Michigan, California, New York. INSEE rounds every published count to the nearest five for statistical confidentiality; the ranks are calculated from the exact figures. International figures from Statistics Canada, INSEE. Sources
Alis among us
people named Ali are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 1,531 born in 2025 was named Ali
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Meyer test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Ali's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Meyer climbed just as high around 1912, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Meyer's path sketches the road Ali is walking now.
Ali 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 Ali is headed
Ali should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High 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.
Ali beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Ali in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- 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.
- Also established in Canada and France, which makes it an easy name to carry across borders.
- 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.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Ali to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Ali
Masculine · Arabic roots · #306 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Alis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 33,500 people named Ali are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Ali in 2025?
- Ali ranks #306 among US boy names in 2025, with 1,116 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Ali?
- About 1 in every 1,531 US boys born in 2025 was named Ali — 1,116 in all.
- Will my child share the name Ali with classmates?
- Ali will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Ali
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Remington#307 · Luciano#305 · Angelo#304 · Dante#308 · Tristan#309 · Gavin#303 · Colson#310 · Banks#310
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Ali? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Ali and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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