How common is the surname Ali?

60,002 people in the United States had the surname Ali in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 5,146 Americans. It ranked 559th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Ali?

Muhammad Ali, American boxer (1942–2016), followed by Mahershala Ali.

Where is the surname Ali most common?

Wikidata records people named Ali in the United States, Azerbaijan and Nigeria and 2 other countries.

How do you pronounce Ali?

Ali is /ˈɑːli/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Ali getting more or less common?

More common. 36,079 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 60,002 in 2010, up 66%.

Is Ali also a first name?

Yes. Ali is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Ali

An Arabic surname, carried by 60,002 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈɑːli/ 2 syllables Soundex A400 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Ali is more common than 99.7% of them.

Origin

Arabic origin

From Arabic عَلِيّ (ʕaliyy, literally “high, exalted”), from the Arabic root ع ل ي (ʕ l y).

One of 179 Arabic surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 60,002 people named Ali in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 5,146 Americans. That is up 66% since 2000, when the Census counted 36,079.

#559

rank among US surnames

60,002

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+66.3%

change since 2000 (was #876)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#550	Barrera	60,998	5,062
#551	Cain	60,948	5,066
#552	Patrick	60,845	5,074
#553	Pineda	60,820	5,076
#554	Burnett	60,791	5,079
#555	Mercado	60,761	5,081
#556	Santana	60,667	5,089

Who is named Ali

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

43% of people named Ali identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, 31% as Black (not Hispanic) and 17% as white (not Hispanic).

Asian and Pacific Islander 43%
Black (not Hispanic) 31%
White (not Hispanic) 17%
Two or more races 5.7%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.9%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among Asian and Pacific Islander Americans.

Famous Alis

17 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Muhammad Ali
American boxer (1942–2016)
Mahershala Ali
American actor (born 1974)
Laila Ali
American television personality and retired professional boxer, born 1977
Tatyana Ali
American actress and singer, born 1979
Nadia Ali
American singer-songwriter, born 1980
Nia Ali
American athletics competitor, born 1988
Sophia Ali
American actress, born 1995
Nouman Ali Khan
American Muslim speaker, born 1978
Ulviyya Ali
Azerbaijani journalist, born 1993
Sadam Ali
American boxer, born 1988
Rahman Ali
American former heavyweight boxer, 1943–2025
Kecia Ali
American scholar of Islam, born 1972

Notable Alis come mostly from the United States (13), Azerbaijan (1) and Nigeria (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Aly
Alee

Surnames that sound like Ali

Ali has the Soundex code A400, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code A400.

Other Arabic surnames

All 179 Arabic surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Ali come from?: From Arabic عَلِيّ (ʕaliyy, literally “high, exalted”), from the Arabic root ع ل ي (ʕ l y).
How common is the surname Ali?: 60,002 people in the United States had the surname Ali in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 5,146 Americans. It ranked 559th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Ali?: In the 2010 Census, 43% of people named Ali identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, and 31% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Ali?: Muhammad Ali, American boxer (1942–2016), followed by Mahershala Ali.
Where is the surname Ali most common?: Wikidata records people named Ali in the United States, Azerbaijan and Nigeria and 2 other countries.
How do you pronounce Ali?: Ali is /ˈɑːli/, 2 syllables.
Is the surname Ali getting more or less common?: More common. 36,079 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 60,002 in 2010, up 66%.
What are other spellings of Ali?: Aly and Alee.
Is Ali also a first name?: Yes. Ali is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.