Al — #8953 US boys' name
17,068 babies named Al in U.S. Social Security records since 1880, with the highest year being 1959. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.
More common than 37% of names given to boys today.
19% of everyone ever named Al was born in this single decade.
440 babies were named Al in 1959 — its busiest year on record.
What the Data Says About Al
The Social Security Administration has registered 17,068 babies named Al between 1880 and 2024, spanning 145 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a boy's name, Al currently holds the #8953 rank among boys for 2024. The name reached its historical peak in 1959, when 440 babies received it in a single year.
Decade-level aggregation shows that Al performed strongest in the 1950s, accumulating 3,220 births during that ten-year window. Across the 15 decades of recorded activity, Al shows a clear decline from its mid-century high. Geographically, the name is most concentrated in New York, which accounts for 1,681 births — the largest state-level total in the dataset — followed by California and Texas. In total, SSA state-level files list Al in 36 of the 51 U.S. reporting jurisdictions.
No etymological entry is currently available for Al in our reference dataset. These figures derive from SSA's annual national and state-level name files, which include any name appearing at least five times in a given year or state-year; names below that threshold are suppressed for privacy and therefore excluded from the totals shown here. The 17,068 total represents a lower bound — actual usage may be higher in years or states where the count fell below the disclosure floor. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute personal, legal, or naming advice.
Al at a glance
Outside the top 1,000Peak year
Current rank
Active since
Al popularity over time — boys
Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 2024–1880
- Peak year (1959)
- 440
- Annual births at peak — across 145 years of records
Currently ranks #8953 among boys.
17,068 total births across 145 years of SSA records. Peaked in 1959 with 440 births in a single year.
Al popularity over time — girls
255 total births recorded since 1914 (Al as girls' name)
Unisex use remains the minority pattern
The girls' variant of Al accounts for 1% of total recorded use across both genders.
Al by decade
Total births in each ten-year window — peak vs trough at a glance
- Peak decade
- 1950s
- 3,220 births that decade — 19% of Al's all-time total
Al decade highlights
- Peak decade 3,220 births
- Runner-up 2,520 births
- Modern era share 2010s + 2020s
- Decades tracked with recorded births
1950s was Al's strongest decade
3,220 babies received the name during that ten-year window — about 19% of all-time use.
Al by state
Where Al concentrates geographically — total births since 1880
| Rank | State | Visual share | Births | Share of total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | New York | | 1,681 | 9.8% |
| #2 | California | | 1,509 | 8.8% |
| #3 | Texas | | 989 | 5.8% |
| #4 | Illinois | | 893 | 5.2% |
| #5 | Louisiana | | 622 | 3.6% |
| #6 | Michigan | | 573 | 3.4% |
| #7 | Georgia | | 556 | 3.3% |
| #8 | North Carolina | | 519 | 3.0% |
1,681 of 17,068 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 36 reporting states.
Top 5 states
- New York 9.8% of nationwide
- California 8.8% of nationwide
- Texas 5.8% of nationwide
- Illinois 5.2% of nationwide
- Louisiana 3.6% of nationwide
Recorded in 36 of 51 SSA jurisdictions
New York accounts for 9.8% of all recorded births nationwide — a relatively diffuse profile for this name.
Al appears in 36 states. Explore state details →
Frequently Asked Questions
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Data Sources
Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).
Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications — National Data, 1880–2024 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames). National-level data includes all names with 5 or more occurrences in a given year.
State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names — State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip). Includes all names with 5 or more occurrences per state per year; rarer names are excluded for privacy.