Alson
Masculine
Alson is a rare old American given name, and one of its early bearers helped build Chicago. Alson Sherman put up one of the city's first sawmills, served as chief of its fire department, and then was elected mayor while Chicago was still a young town on the lake.
How old is the name Alson?
Alson first appears in US birth records in 1888 — 137 years ago. The typical Alson alive today was born around 1934, making them about 91 years old. About 200 people named Alson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Alson most popular?
Alson peaked in 1888, reaching #1031 nationally. See the whole 1888 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Alson
Alson is two plain syllables, Al and son, and it reads like a family name made from a father's name even though no record says it was one. It sits one letter from Alston and one syllable from Allison, both English surnames, and it was already in American use when Alson Sherman was cutting timber and fighting fires in early Chicago. Our story of Alson is a name that sounds like a family line and belongs to no single family: Al's son, in two short syllables, with a fire chief and mayor to stand behind it.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No documented meaning of its own. It looks like the English surname Alston without its t, and like Allison cut short; nothing on record says which, if either, stands behind it.
Pronouncing Alson
AL-sun
Two syllables, stressed on the first.
Nicknames for Alson
Limited
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
- 1888
- Most boys named
- 192619 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1031reached in 1888
- Change vs 2022
- +100.0%10 in 2024, from 5
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.
Alsons among us
people named Alson are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Alson sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Spelled as it sounds, in two short syllables.
- A documented nineteenth-century bearer in Alson Sherman, fire chief and mayor of early Chicago.
- Al is ready as a short form.
- People will hear Alston or Allison and write those; expect to spell it.
- It has no documented meaning, so 'what does it mean?' has only an honest answer: nobody recorded one.
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Alson
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Alsons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 200 people named Alson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Alson in 2025?
- Alson is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Alson with classmates?
- Alson will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More A names
The most-given names starting with A, all years combined.
Anthony#46 · Andrew#73 · Alexander#30 · Aaron#80 · Adam#101 · Arthur#87 · Albert#614 · Austin#113
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Alson? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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