Al
Al was given to 12 boys in 2025, #6,818 among boys’ names; 17,334 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 8,920 Americans named Al and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (52% of everyone recorded); the median is 63 years old and half are between 48 and 71.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Al by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Al mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Al is “a diminutive of the male given names Alan, Albert, Alexander, Alfred, and other male or female names beginning with Al- , from the Celtic languages, the Germanic languages, Ancient Greek, or Old English.”
/æl/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Al?
#6,818 among boys’ names, 2025
Al fell from #4,893 in 2015 to #6,818 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 9.9 to 7.0 per million.
450 babies in 1959, the peak
Al peaked in 1959, when 450 babies were given it (440 boys, #376 among boys’ names). The 12 births of 2025 are 3% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 12 | #6,818 | 0.01 |
| 2024 | 8 | #9,011 | under 0.01 |
| 2023 | 16 | #5,666 | 0.01 |
| 2022 | 11 | #7,280 | 0.01 |
| 2021 | 12 | #6,707 | 0.01 |
| 2020 | 19 | #4,857 | 0.01 |
| 2019 | 13 | #6,408 | 0.01 |
| 2018 | 26 | #3,991 | 0.01 |
| 2017 | 20 | #4,746 | 0.01 |
| 2016 | 17 | #5,321 | 0.01 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 19 | #4,893 | 0.01 |
| 2014 | 14 | #6,000 | 0.01 |
| 2013 | 23 | #4,185 | 0.01 |
| 2012 | 22 | #4,393 | 0.01 |
| 2011 | 17 | #5,205 | 0.01 |
| 2010 | 20 | #4,682 | 0.01 |
| 2009 | 29 | #3,639 | 0.01 |
| 2008 | 21 | #4,542 | 0.01 |
| 2007 | 19 | #4,813 | 0.01 |
| 2006 | 21 | #4,367 | 0.01 |
| 2005 | 28 | #3,447 | 0.01 |
| 2004 | 33 | #3,011 | 0.02 |
| 2003 | 36 | #2,726 | 0.02 |
| 2002 | 50 | #2,122 | 0.03 |
| 2001 | 33 | #2,794 | 0.02 |
| 2000 | 54 | #1,922 | 0.03 |
| 1999 | 47 | #2,021 | 0.02 |
| 1998 | 52 | #1,869 | 0.03 |
| 1997 | 43 | #2,058 | 0.02 |
| 1996 | 50 | #1,813 | 0.03 |
| 1995 | 65 | #1,472 | 0.03 |
| 1994 | 71 | #1,379 | 0.04 |
| 1993 | 64 | #1,455 | 0.03 |
| 1992 | 86 | #1,206 | 0.04 |
| 1991 | 63 | #1,425 | 0.03 |
| 1990 | 79 | #1,233 | 0.04 |
| 1989 | 94 | #1,078 | 0.05 |
| 1988 | 86 | #1,068 | 0.04 |
| 1987 | 93 | #981 | 0.05 |
| 1986 | 79 | #1,048 | 0.04 |
| 1985 | 92 | #950 | 0.05 |
| 1984 | 89 | #931 | 0.05 |
| 1983 | 104 | #858 | 0.06 |
| 1982 | 117 | #819 | 0.06 |
| 1981 | 109 | #841 | 0.06 |
| 1980 | 109 | #847 | 0.06 |
| 1979 | 116 | #810 | 0.07 |
| 1978 | 134 | #726 | 0.08 |
| 1977 | 128 | #755 | 0.08 |
| 1976 | 157 | #653 | 0.10 |
| 1975 | 135 | #713 | 0.09 |
| 1974 | 136 | #705 | 0.09 |
| 1973 | 144 | #665 | 0.09 |
| 1972 | 161 | #619 | 0.10 |
| 1971 | 150 | #676 | 0.08 |
| 1970 | 148 | #672 | 0.08 |
| 1969 | 167 | #606 | 0.09 |
| 1968 | 164 | #594 | 0.09 |
| 1967 | 166 | #587 | 0.10 |
| 1966 | 158 | #596 | 0.09 |
| 1965 | 210 | #530 | 0.11 |
| 1964 | 268 | #481 | 0.13 |
| 1963 | 292 | #459 | 0.14 |
| 1962 | 341 | #432 | 0.16 |
| 1961 | 362 | #417 | 0.17 |
| 1960 | 392 | #398 | 0.18 |
| 1959 | 440 | #376 | 0.21 |
| 1958 | 387 | #396 | 0.18 |
| 1957 | 386 | #392 | 0.18 |
| 1956 | 398 | #371 | 0.19 |
| 1955 | 286 | #433 | 0.14 |
| 1954 | 313 | #405 | 0.15 |
| 1953 | 266 | #435 | 0.13 |
| 1952 | 265 | #428 | 0.14 |
| 1951 | 262 | #418 | 0.14 |
| 1950 | 216 | #446 | 0.12 |
| 1949 | 231 | #439 | 0.13 |
| 1948 | 286 | #402 | 0.16 |
| 1947 | 330 | #379 | 0.18 |
| 1946 | 290 | #383 | 0.18 |
| 1945 | 216 | #409 | 0.16 |
| 1944 | 210 | #417 | 0.15 |
| 1943 | 201 | #443 | 0.14 |
| 1942 | 223 | #410 | 0.16 |
| 1941 | 192 | #423 | 0.16 |
| 1940 | 166 | #449 | 0.14 |
| 1939 | 198 | #405 | 0.18 |
| 1938 | 193 | #408 | 0.17 |
| 1937 | 205 | #384 | 0.19 |
| 1936 | 199 | #388 | 0.19 |
| 1935 | 209 | #376 | 0.20 |
| 1934 | 194 | #396 | 0.19 |
| 1933 | 170 | #417 | 0.17 |
| 1932 | 199 | #399 | 0.19 |
| 1931 | 185 | #415 | 0.18 |
| 1930 | 172 | #451 | 0.16 |
| 1929 | 170 | #453 | 0.16 |
| 1928 | 190 | #433 | 0.17 |
| 1927 | 164 | #472 | 0.15 |
| 1926 | 147 | #496 | 0.13 |
| 1925 | 125 | #549 | 0.11 |
| 1924 | 151 | #508 | 0.13 |
| 1923 | 103 | #631 | 0.09 |
| 1922 | 109 | #617 | 0.10 |
| 1921 | 119 | #580 | 0.11 |
| 1920 | 150 | #493 | 0.14 |
| 1919 | 160 | #472 | 0.16 |
| 1918 | 133 | #519 | 0.13 |
| 1917 | 133 | #497 | 0.14 |
| 1916 | 122 | #515 | 0.14 |
| 1915 | 175 | #405 | 0.21 |
| 1914 | 144 | #395 | 0.22 |
| 1913 | 101 | #427 | 0.20 |
| 1912 | 121 | #342 | 0.28 |
| 1911 | 65 | #337 | 0.29 |
| 1910 | 73 | #285 | 0.38 |
| 1909 | 47 | #339 | 0.29 |
| 1908 | 45 | #335 | 0.29 |
| 1907 | 40 | #341 | 0.27 |
| 1906 | 43 | #316 | 0.32 |
| 1905 | 39 | #319 | 0.29 |
| 1904 | 33 | #351 | 0.26 |
| 1903 | 38 | #303 | 0.32 |
| 1902 | 42 | #291 | 0.34 |
| 1901 | 21 | #407 | 0.20 |
| 1900 | 37 | #357 | 0.25 |
| 1899 | 27 | #346 | 0.25 |
| 1898 | 22 | #419 | 0.18 |
| 1897 | 20 | #422 | 0.18 |
| 1896 | 27 | #367 | 0.23 |
| 1895 | 23 | #399 | 0.20 |
| 1894 | 26 | #358 | 0.22 |
| 1893 | 25 | #359 | 0.22 |
| 1892 | 22 | #404 | 0.18 |
| 1891 | 21 | #377 | 0.21 |
| 1890 | 15 | #492 | 0.14 |
| 1889 | 23 | #370 | 0.21 |
| 1888 | 23 | #387 | 0.19 |
| 1887 | 16 | #420 | 0.16 |
| 1886 | 27 | #325 | 0.24 |
| 1885 | 17 | #441 | 0.16 |
| 1884 | 18 | #433 | 0.16 |
| 1883 | 21 | #371 | 0.20 |
| 1882 | 33 | #298 | 0.29 |
| 1881 | 19 | #389 | 0.19 |
| 1880 | 12 | #526 | 0.11 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Al a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 17,334 Americans recorded as Al, 1% are girls and 99% boys. In 2025 it went to 12 boys; SSA lists no girls with it that year (fewer than 5, or none).
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Al: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Al, and how old are they?
8,920 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 52% of the 17,334 Americans ever recorded as Al. The median Al alive today is 63 years old; half are between 48 and 71.
The 2020 Census counted 19,745 people named Al (832 women and girls, 18,913 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 10,077 born in the U.S. The Census count is 2.0 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 715 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 4,060 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 2,140 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 1,270 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 515 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 208 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Al born?
The states with the most babies named Al are New York, California and Texas, with 36% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 1,681 | not ranked | 1.2× |
| California | 1,509 | not ranked | 1.2× |
| Texas | 988 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Illinois | 893 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Louisiana | 622 | not ranked | 1.8× |
| Michigan | 573 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Georgia | 556 | not ranked | 1.2× |
| North Carolina | 519 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Ohio | 466 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| New Jersey | 463 | not ranked | 0.9× |
Where Al is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Al is most over-represented in Louisiana: since 1910 it was given 1.8 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Al with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 2 names spelled alike, given to 17,523 babies since 1880, Al is the most given (99% of them). In 2025 it was given to 12 of their 34 babies (35%), the second most given that year.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Al
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Al and names like it
- Compare Al and AhilBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1950sAl peaked in 1959.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Al since 1910.
- The top names of 1959The year the most babies were named Al.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Al alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with AMost given first.