# Alim (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/alim/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from Arabic.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Arabic |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 513 |
| US rank (2010) | 42,308 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 601,843 people |
| Change since 2000 | +32% (390 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Aleem |

## Etymology

Mid 19th century; earliest use found in Edward Lane (1801–1876), orientalist. Partly from Arabic عَالِم (ʕālim, “scholar, (specifically) expert in Islamic law and theology”), use as noun of the active participle of عَلِمَ (ʕalima, “to know”), and partly from Arabic عَالِم (ʕālim, “knowing, learned, also (as noun) scholar”) from عَلِمَ (ʕalima, “to know”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Alim in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 14% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 30% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 46% |
| Two or more races | 4.9% |

## Similar surnames

Alam, Alamo, Alaimo, Alm, Almy, Alemu, Allen, Allan, Alleyne, Allain, Allyn, Alewine.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.