# Alison (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/alison/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | “of noble kind” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈælɪsən/, 3 syllables |
| Nicknames | Ali, Aly, Al, Alie, Alli, Allie, Ally |
| Variant spellings | Allison, Allisson, Allyson, Alyson |
| US babies named this | 117,481 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 595 / 116,886 (99% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 1,308, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Middle English Alisoun, from Old French Alison, itself from Alis + -on, with Alis ultimately being from Old High German Adalheid or Adalhaid (“of noble kind”).

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 1,272 | 253 |
| 2012 | 1,184 | 275 |
| 2013 | 1,072 | 298 |
| 2014 | 1,118 | 292 |
| 2015 | 967 | 339 |
| 2016 | 974 | 343 |
| 2017 | 816 | 383 |
| 2018 | 770 | 400 |
| 2019 | 758 | 413 |
| 2020 | 699 | 440 |
| 2021 | 660 | 473 |
| 2022 | 692 | 458 |
| 2023 | 654 | 471 |
| 2024 | 674 | 465 |
| 2025 | 644 | 476 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 7 | 7,300 |
| 1998 | 5 | 9,676 |
| 1999 | 9 | 6,548 |
| 2000 | 5 | 10,417 |
| 2003 | 6 | 9,622 |
| 2004 | 5 | 11,420 |
| 2006 | 5 | 12,127 |
| 2007 | 10 | 7,617 |
| 2008 | 7 | 9,903 |
| 2009 | 9 | 8,330 |
| 2011 | 6 | 10,864 |
| 2012 | 5 | 12,356 |
| 2013 | 6 | 10,790 |
| 2022 | 6 | 10,929 |
| 2025 | 5 | 12,100 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 33 | 1,043 |
| 2012 | 22 | 1,428 |
| 2013 | 26 | 1,291 |
| 2014 | 29 | 1,177 |
| 2015 | 24 | 1,362 |
| 2016 | 26 | 1,278 |
| 2017 | 20 | 1,568 |
| 2018 | 21 | 1,490 |
| 2019 | 18 | 1,634 |
| 2020 | 26 | 1,238 |
| 2021 | 22 | 1,402 |
| 2022 | 14 | 1,948 |
| 2023 | 12 | 2,201 |
| 2024 | 19 | 1,603 |
| 2025 | 17 | 1,719 |

## People named Alison

- Alison Brie, American actress and writer (born 1982)
- Alison Krauss, American musician
- Alison Lohman, American actress
- Alison Pill, Canadian actress (born 1985)
- Alison Sudol, American musician
- Alison Bechdel, American cartoonist, author
- Alison Riske-Amritraj, American tennis player
- Alison dos Santos, Brazilian hurdler (born 2000)
- Alison Lurie, American novelist and academic (1926-2020)
- Alison Moyet, British singer
- Alison Van Uytvanck, Belgian tennis player
- Alison Williamson, British archer

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.