Ali
Ali was given to 1,116 boys in 2025, #306 among boys’ names; 44,888 Americans have been recorded with it since 1914 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 43,700 Americans named Ali and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (97% of everyone recorded); the median is 19 years old and half are between 10 and 31.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Ali by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Ali mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Ali is “a male given name from Arabic.” Its etymology gives the sense “high, exalted” (literally).
Also “a diminutive of the female given name Alison or of its variants.”
From Arabic عَلِيّ (ʕaliyy, literally “high, exalted”), from the Arabic root ع ل ي (ʕ l y).
/ˈɑːli/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Ali?
#306 among boys’ names, 2025
Ali rose from #325 in 2015 to #306 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 0.55 to 0.65 per 1,000.
1,251 babies in 2014, the peak
Ali peaked in 2014, when 1,251 babies were given it (1,011 boys, #334 among boys’ names). The 1,160 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 93% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 44 | #3,462 | 1,116 | #306 |
| 2024 | 71 | #2,508 | 1,066 | #323 |
| 2023 | 74 | #2,416 | 1,066 | #311 |
| 2022 | 88 | #2,157 | 1,124 | #301 |
| 2021 | 103 | #1,911 | 958 | #339 |
| 2020 | 93 | #2,006 | 1,017 | #324 |
| 2019 | 130 | #1,629 | 1,069 | #314 |
| 2018 | 111 | #1,830 | 1,094 | #310 |
| 2017 | 118 | #1,770 | 1,116 | #310 |
| 2016 | 154 | #1,485 | 1,087 | #322 |
Every recorded year (98)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 190 | #1,280 | 1,061 | #325 |
| 2014 | 240 | #1,068 | 1,011 | #334 |
| 2013 | 251 | #996 | 902 | #351 |
| 2012 | 307 | #865 | 872 | #352 |
| 2011 | 391 | #710 | 803 | #372 |
| 2010 | 387 | #724 | 850 | #357 |
| 2009 | 284 | #941 | 818 | #371 |
| 2008 | 320 | #872 | 742 | #398 |
| 2007 | 244 | #1,075 | 783 | #386 |
| 2006 | 241 | #1,060 | 827 | #359 |
| 2005 | 238 | #1,021 | 760 | #380 |
| 2004 | 284 | #865 | 726 | #379 |
| 2003 | 188 | #1,148 | 810 | #344 |
| 2002 | 193 | #1,097 | 870 | #319 |
| 2001 | 202 | #1,056 | 715 | #373 |
| 2000 | 235 | #918 | 684 | #380 |
| 1999 | 248 | #866 | 650 | #391 |
| 1998 | 269 | #797 | 622 | #394 |
| 1997 | 303 | #708 | 591 | #397 |
| 1996 | 325 | #676 | 528 | #426 |
| 1995 | 291 | #711 | 517 | #442 |
| 1994 | 314 | #675 | 478 | #460 |
| 1993 | 301 | #709 | 443 | #475 |
| 1992 | 268 | #769 | 447 | #477 |
| 1991 | 300 | #705 | 424 | #479 |
| 1990 | 308 | #687 | 440 | #471 |
| 1989 | 261 | #751 | 385 | #487 |
| 1988 | 226 | #810 | 333 | #501 |
| 1987 | 258 | #707 | 308 | #512 |
| 1986 | 280 | #661 | 286 | #525 |
| 1985 | 160 | #964 | 283 | #519 |
| 1984 | 125 | #1,103 | 263 | #529 |
| 1983 | 81 | #1,434 | 237 | #545 |
| 1982 | 66 | #1,703 | 265 | #524 |
| 1981 | 65 | #1,734 | 237 | #550 |
| 1980 | 69 | #1,657 | 249 | #545 |
| 1979 | 82 | #1,461 | 318 | #455 |
| 1978 | 65 | #1,635 | 256 | #510 |
| 1977 | 64 | #1,638 | 196 | #603 |
| 1976 | 70 | #1,482 | 198 | #577 |
| 1975 | 66 | #1,527 | 163 | #633 |
| 1974 | 97 | #1,166 | 158 | #641 |
| 1973 | 101 | #1,109 | 113 | #753 |
| 1972 | 100 | #1,111 | 118 | #732 |
| 1971 | 108 | #1,104 | 136 | #707 |
| 1970 | 33 | #2,308 | 77 | #911 |
| 1969 | 8 | #5,463 | 68 | #921 |
| 1968 | under 5 | 52 | #1,026 | |
| 1967 | under 5 | 38 | #1,216 | |
| 1966 | under 5 | 35 | #1,281 | |
| 1965 | under 5 | 46 | #1,094 | |
| 1964 | 6 | #6,016 | 48 | #1,095 |
| 1963 | under 5 | 35 | #1,317 | |
| 1962 | under 5 | 32 | #1,386 | |
| 1961 | under 5 | 29 | #1,496 | |
| 1960 | 6 | #5,705 | 25 | #1,618 |
| 1959 | under 5 | 25 | #1,588 | |
| 1958 | under 5 | 18 | #1,895 | |
| 1957 | under 5 | 15 | #2,093 | |
| 1956 | under 5 | 15 | #2,091 | |
| 1955 | under 5 | 17 | #1,903 | |
| 1954 | under 5 | 20 | #1,707 | |
| 1953 | under 5 | 16 | #1,957 | |
| 1952 | under 5 | 17 | #1,856 | |
| 1951 | under 5 | 9 | #2,666 | |
| 1950 | under 5 | 14 | #2,020 | |
| 1949 | under 5 | 8 | #2,804 | |
| 1948 | under 5 | 5 | #3,684 | |
| 1947 | under 5 | 6 | #3,372 | |
| 1946 | under 5 | 5 | #3,537 | |
| 1945 | under 5 | 7 | #2,748 | |
| 1944 | under 5 | 11 | #2,195 | |
| 1943 | under 5 | 8 | #2,739 | |
| 1941 | under 5 | 7 | #2,879 | |
| 1940 | under 5 | 8 | #2,672 | |
| 1939 | under 5 | 6 | #3,118 | |
| 1938 | under 5 | 7 | #2,872 | |
| 1937 | under 5 | 8 | #2,685 | |
| 1936 | under 5 | 5 | #3,556 | |
| 1934 | under 5 | 5 | #3,689 | |
| 1933 | under 5 | 6 | #3,276 | |
| 1931 | under 5 | 6 | #3,394 | |
| 1930 | under 5 | 7 | #3,294 | |
| 1928 | under 5 | 6 | #3,708 | |
| 1927 | under 5 | 7 | #3,456 | |
| 1926 | under 5 | 5 | #4,213 | |
| 1924 | under 5 | 5 | #4,362 | |
| 1914 | under 5 | 5 | #3,270 |
Ranks: girls’ names and boys’ names ranked separately in each year’s SSA file; “under 5” is a year SSA did not list the name for that sex.
Is Ali a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 44,888 Americans recorded as Ali, 23% are girls and 77% boys. In 2025 it went to 44 girls and 1,116 boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Ali: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Ali, and how old are they?
43,700 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 97% of the 44,888 Americans ever recorded as Ali. The median Ali alive today is 19 years old; half are between 10 and 31.
The 2020 Census counted 69,302 people named Ali (13,374 women and girls, 55,928 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 37,493 born in the U.S. The Census count is 1.8 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 | 22 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 265 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 2,810 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 9,140 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 16,200 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 15,200 |
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 Ali born?
The states with the most babies named Ali are Michigan, New York and Texas, with 36% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan | 157 | #50 | 3.3× |
| New York | 121 | #166 | 1.6× |
| Texas | 119 | #326 | 0.8× |
| California | 108 | #334 | 0.9× |
| Illinois | 63 | #186 | 1.0× |
| Virginia | 51 | #179 | 1.0× |
| Ohio | 42 | #287 | 0.8× |
| New Jersey | 41 | #231 | 1.4× |
| Florida | 37 | #489 | 0.8× |
| Pennsylvania | 32 | #342 | 0.8× |
Where Ali is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Ali is most over-represented in Michigan: since 1914 it was given 3.3 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 Ali 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 8 names spelled alike, given to 48,307 babies since 1880, Ali is the most given (93% of them). In 2025 it was given to 1,160 of their 1,256 babies (92%), again the most given.
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 Ali
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 Ali and names like it
- Compare Ali and AlyBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2010sAli peaked in 2014.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Ali since 1910.
- Arabic namesWiktionary’s origin for Ali: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2014The year the most babies were named Ali.
- The names of Generation ZMost people named Ali alive today were born 1997-2012.
- Names starting with AMost given first.