# Alison (surname)

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

An English surname

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 718 |
| US rank (2010) | 32,123 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 430,008 people |
| Change since 2000 | -1.8% (731 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈælɪsən/, 3 syllables |
| Variant spellings | Allison, Allisson, Allyson, Alyson |

## 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”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Alison 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) | 78% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 9.3% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 5.8% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 4.5% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Alison in Australia.

## People named Alison

- Dorothy Alison, Australian stage, film, and television actress (1925−1992)

## Similar surnames

Allison, Alcon, Alexander, Alcantar, Alcantara, Alejandro, Alexandre, Alejandre.

## 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.