Allison
Feminine · “noble kind”
Allison is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 319,119 girls against 3,825 boys since 1880. See Allison as a boy name
Allison is the surname spelling of a name that started out as Alison — the everyday medieval pet form of Alice, common enough in England by Chaucer's day that he gave it to two of his most talkative women. In the mouth it is three easy beats, all soft consonants, with a first syllable that never needs explaining. American parents took up the double-L version and made it the standard one here, and it has stayed in steady use through several turns of fashion.
How old is the name Allison?
Allison first appears in US birth records in 1908 — 117 years ago. The typical Allison alive today was born around 1994, making them about 31 years old. About 311,000 people named Allison are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Allison most popular?
Allison peaked in 2009, reaching #30 nationally. Today it ranks #103, 73 places below that high. See the whole 2009 chart.
Where it comes from
From Adalheidis to Allison
The story of Allison
The root is the Germanic Adalheidis, which came into Old French as Adelais and then wore down to Alis or Alice. Norman French added the affectionate ending -on, and Alisoun arrived in England after the Conquest as a name for ordinary women — Chaucer used it for the carpenter's wife in the Miller's Tale and for the Wife of Bath. From medieval given name it became a family name, Allison, and it was that surname spelling with two L's that American parents adopted and turned back into a first name. Alison held on separately in Scotland, which is why English-speaking countries outside the US still tend to write it with one L.
Meaning
noble kind, from Alice
Alison began as a diminutive of Alice, which descends from the Germanic Adalheidis: adal 'noble' plus heid 'kind, sort'. Allison is the same name, respelled through the surname.
Cultural footprint
Allison Janney (b. 1959) — Oscar winner (I, Tonya) and The West Wing's C.J.
Allison Williams (b. 1988) — Girls and Get Out star
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
How the name formed
- Adalheidis
- Adelais
- Alice
- Alisoun
- Allison
Related forms: Alison · Allyson · Alisoun · Alison · Alice · Alix
Pronouncing Allison
AL-ih-sun
Three syllables, stress on the first. The middle vowel is light, so it can sound like AL-uh-sun in quick speech. No pronunciation difference between Allison and Alison.
Nicknames for Allison
High
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
- 1908
- Most girls named
- 19948,150 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #30reached in 2009
- Change vs 2023
- −3.2%2,564 in 2025, from 2,650
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.
Allison in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Alison in English (UK, Australia) — spelling variant
- Allyson in English — spelling variant
- Alisoun in Middle English — spelling variant
- Alison in French — same name
- Alice in English — related form
- Alix in French — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Allisons among us
people named Allison are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 627 born in 2025 was named Allison
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Allison
- #103
- Allison on the 2025 chart
- #76
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Allison went to 2,564 girls in 2025, but Alison, Allyson and Alyson are the same name said out loud. Together the 5 spellings went to 3,577, which makes it the 76th most-given girls’ name of the year — 27 places above the chart.
and 1 rarer spelling.
About 1 girl in 449 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 627 for Allison 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
The Maria test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Allison's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Maria climbed just as high around 1975, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Maria's path sketches the road Allison is walking now.
Allison has held the top-100 across 6 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Allison is headed
Allison 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.
Allison beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Allison in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Immediately recognizable and pronounceable to English speakers, with no ambiguity about how the sounds go.
- Long documented line back through medieval England to Alice, so it is old without sounding antique.
- Established short forms already in real use — Allie, Ally, Al — none of which you have to invent.
- Works across English, French and Spanish-speaking settings, which shows in its strength in Texas, California and Florida.
- Formal enough on a document and informal enough on a playground without any adjustment.
- Allison, Alison, Allyson and Alyson all exist and all sound identical, so she will spell it out often. The double-L is the American default; outside the US, one L is the safer assumption.
- Allie and Ally arrive at the same nickname from Alexandra, Alyssa, Alice and Alexis, so the short form is far less distinctive than the full name.
- It rose late enough that a great many bearers are adults now rather than children — the name reads current, but it is not new.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Allison
Feminine · #103 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Allisons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 311,000 people named Allison are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Allison?
- Allison is the most-used spelling in US records — 2,564 of the 3,577 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Alison, Allyson and Alyson.
- How popular is the name Allison in 2025?
- Allison ranks #103 among US girl names in 2025, with 2,564 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Allison?
- About 1 in every 627 US girls born in 2025 was named Allison — 2,564 in all.
- Will my child share the name Allison with classmates?
- Allison will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Allison
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Margot#102 · Hailey#104 · Gabriella#105 · Aaliyah#101 · Juniper#100 · Parker#106 · Georgia#99 · Anna#107
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Allison? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Allison and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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