Alison

Meaning: Of noble kind
Origin: French (from Germanic via Old French)

Nicknames: Allie, Ally, Aly

Girl's name · #476 in the US (2025) · 80s wave

Popularity over time

Alison's best rank, #96, came in 1986; it has settled back to #476 today. Roughly 117,000 girls have been named Alison since 1905.

Across the states

See where Alison is more common.

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 39 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Around the world

See how Alison ranks in other countries and regions.

#84 in Mexico (2024) · #161 in Ecuador (2025) · #214 in Ireland (2025) · #403 in New Zealand (2025) · #1,321 in Austria (2025) · #1,489 in France (2025) · #1,725 in England & Wales (2025) · #1,831 in Switzerland (2025) · #935 in Canada (2024).

Famous Alisons

Alison Brie — American actress and writer (born 1982)
Alison Krauss — American musician
Alison Lohman — American actress
Alison Pill — Canadian actress (born 1985)
Alison Bechdel — American cartoonist, author

In stories & tradition

Alison (Dazzler) — X-Men (comics)
Alison DiLaurentis — Pretty Little Liars (novel series)
Alison Stewart — As the World Turns (TV series)

What Alisons become

Among 1,163 notable people named Alison:

Scientists & scholars appear 1.35× more often than among typical names — e.g. Alison Weir, British historian & novelist (born 1951).

Spellings & nicknames

Together with its spelling variants Allison (#103) and Alisson (#511), Alison would rank around #61 with about 3,800 births last year — the newborns split about 68/17/15 across Allison, Alison, and Alisson.

About 630 girls a year are given Allie as their full name and 120 Ally.

Similar names: Allyson · Kara · Alicia · Katie · Alisha · Amber

Browse more girl names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

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