Girls' name · since 1905
Alison
Alison has 116,886 recorded births since 1905 in federal Social Security data, most heavily in 1980 -- full year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state rankings follow.
- #331 of 72,339
- all-time among girls
- #476 of 17,297
- 2025 SSA year
- 116,886
- born since 1905
- 1980s
- peak decade
Alison currently ranks #476 among girls' names in America, with 116,886 babies recorded since 1905.
According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Alison has been recorded 116,886 times among girls since 1905, currently ranked #476 nationally and more common than 97% of girls, with its heaviest use in the 1980s. This profile covers year-by-year birth trends, decade totals, and state-level distribution, all derived directly from SSA birth-registration files spanning 1905 to 2025.
- #331 of 72,339 all-time among girls
- #476 of 17,297 2025 SSA year
- 116,886 born since 1905
- 1980s peak decade
Data updated Aug 2026
The verdict
According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Alison ranks #331 of 72,339 girls' names by all-time recorded births (highest first) and #476 of 17,297 among girls' names in 2025. 116,886 born since 1905, peaking in the 1980s.
- #331 of 72,339
- all-time among girls
- #476 of 17,297
- 2025 SSA year
- 116,886
- born since 1905
- 1980s
- peak decade
Alison's 116,886 recorded births place it above 99.54% of the 72,339 girls names in the full SSA archive.
51 jurisdictions carry state-level records, led by California.
How Alison compares
116,886 Top 2% higher than 98% of 17,297 names currently given to girls
Based on all-time total births among currently-ranked girls names. Names with fewer occurrences are grouped into wider buckets on the right.
Source U.S. Social Security Administration, national baby name data
How the numbers stack up
Alison's all-time total is 311x the median girls name, and Olivia still leads by a wide margin.
| Metric | Alison | Median girls name (Kyann) | #1 girls name (Olivia) |
|---|---|---|---|
| All-time total births | 116,886 | 376 | 567,345 |
| Peak-year births | 2,980 | 21 | 19,840 |
Alison's usage pattern, beyond the headline number
Splitting Alison's full recorded timeline at 1967, 85% of its total births fall in the more recent half of the record versus 15% in the earlier half -- usage has skewed toward the present, not a one-decade spike. Its quietest year on record was 1907, with just 5 recorded births -- worth weighing against the 1980 peak of 2,980 to see the full range of the name's swing in popularity.
Alison popularity over time - girls
Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 1905–2025
- Peak year (1980)
- 2,980
- Annual births at peak, across 121 years of records
Alison popularity over time - boys
595 total births recorded since 1913 (Alison as boys' name)
Alison by decade
1980s is the heaviest window (27,018 births, 23% of the file).
1980s was Alison's strongest decade.
27,018 babies received the name during that ten-year window, about 23% of all-time use.
Alison births by decade
Total births in each ten-year window
- 1900s 12
1900s
12 births
- 1910s 134
1910s
134 births
- 1920s 198
1920s
198 births
- 1930s 367
1930s
367 births
- 1940s 1,450
1940s
1,450 births
- 1950s 6,216
1950s
6,216 births
- 1960s
1960s
12,233 births
- 1970s
1970s
22,070 births
- 1980s
1980s
27,018 births
- 1990s
1990s
19,729 births
- 2000s
2000s
13,286 births
- 2010s 10,150
2010s
10,150 births
- 2020s 4,023
2020s
4,023 births
What this shows Peak: 1980s at 27,018 births (23% of all-time use).
How Alison compares to similarly-sized names
Years in SSA records vs. share of all-time use concentrated in the single peak year, among 15 girls names closest to Alison's total volume
Alison by state
Where Alison concentrates geographically, total births since 1905
| Rank | State | Visual share | Births | Share of total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | California | | 13,819 | 11.8% |
| #2 | New York | | 11,719 | 10.0% |
| #3 | Texas | | 6,216 | 5.3% |
| #4 | Pennsylvania | | 5,850 | 5.0% |
| #5 | Illinois | | 5,365 | 4.6% |
| #6 | Massachusetts | | 5,353 | 4.6% |
| #7 | New Jersey | | 4,978 | 4.3% |
| #8 | Ohio | | 4,909 | 4.2% |
13,819 of 116,886 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 51 reporting states.
Alison appears in 51 states. Explore state details →
Frequently Asked Questions
How popular is the name Alison? ▼
Where does Alison sit in the SSA name archive? ▼
When was Alison most popular? ▼
Where is Alison most popular? ▼
How long has the name Alison been used? ▼
What names are similar to Alison? ▼
What to do with Alison's data
- Alison's decade-level peak was the 1980s (27,018 total births); usage has since declined to 4,023 in the 2020s -- if you're weighing a "classic revival" angle, the trend line argues against it.
- California records the most Alisons (13,819 births) -- see the full state breakdown if geography matters to your decision. California names
Figures reflect SSA-reported births only; see the methodology above for the privacy-suppression floor.
Keep exploring Alison
Nearby Names Like Alison
Names with a similar sound, spelling, or feel to Alison
Compare Alison side by side: Alison vs Alice Alison vs Alicia Alison vs Alisha
Related Names
Names with a similar popularity rank to Alison
Nationwide names with similar peak year or record span
Two nationwide peer axes for Alison: closest SSA peak year, and closest first→latest record span. Distinct from the spelling and current-rank neighborhoods above.
Similar peak year (~1980)
Similar record span (~120 yrs)
Peak year is the single SSA year with the most births for that name; record span is first-to-latest year in the national files, not a recommendation or shared origin claim.
Data Sources
Data as of August 2026. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).
According to the Social Security Administration, this profile draws directly from the agency's public-use baby-name files (updated June 2026). See our methodology for the full extraction, aggregation, and privacy-suppression rules.
Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications, National Data, 1905–2025 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames).
State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names, State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip).
Name Almanac is rendered directly from the Social Security Administration's public baby-name files, no number is typed in by an editor. This profile for Alison draws directly on SSA national and state-level files, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.