Allison
Allison was given to 2,564 girls in 2025, #103 among girls’ names; 322,944 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 311,000 Americans named Allison and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (96% of everyone recorded); the median is 31 years old and half are between 18 and 41.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Allison by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Allison mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Allison is “a female given name from the Germanic languages, of 1940s and later usage, variant of Alison.”
Also “a male given name transferred from the surname, of mostly before 1950 usage.”
From a Middle English diminutive form of Alan, Alexander or Alice + -son.
/ˈælɪsən/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Allison?
#103 among girls’ names, 2025
Allison fell from #39 in 2015 to #103 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 3.0 to 1.6 per 1,000.
8,163 babies in 1994, the peak
Allison peaked in 1994, when 8,163 babies were given it (8,150 girls, #34 among girls’ names). The 2,570 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 31% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2,564 | #103 | 1.6 |
| 2024 | 2,631 | #99 | 1.6 |
| 2023 | 2,650 | #100 | 1.7 |
| 2022 | 2,714 | #101 | 1.7 |
| 2021 | 3,140 | #82 | 1.9 |
| 2020 | 3,161 | #80 | 2.0 |
| 2019 | 3,440 | #78 | 2.0 |
| 2018 | 3,694 | #70 | 2.2 |
| 2017 | 4,037 | #61 | 2.3 |
| 2016 | 4,786 | #50 | 2.7 |
Every recorded year (117)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 5,356 | #39 | 3.0 |
| 2014 | 5,476 | #39 | 3.1 |
| 2013 | 5,446 | #34 | 3.1 |
| 2012 | 5,428 | #38 | 3.1 |
| 2011 | 5,472 | #40 | 3.1 |
| 2010 | 5,868 | #38 | 3.3 |
| 2009 | 6,581 | #30 | 3.6 |
| 2008 | 6,241 | #32 | 3.3 |
| 2007 | 5,454 | #46 | 2.8 |
| 2006 | 5,564 | #47 | 2.9 |
| 2005 | 5,634 | #45 | 3.0 |
| 2004 | 5,873 | #40 | 3.2 |
| 2003 | 5,850 | #46 | 3.2 |
| 2002 | 6,239 | #44 | 3.5 |
| 2001 | 6,215 | #44 | 3.5 |
| 2000 | 6,315 | #44 | 3.5 |
| 1999 | 7,026 | #40 | 4.0 |
| 1998 | 7,861 | #38 | 4.4 |
| 1997 | 7,274 | #39 | 4.2 |
| 1996 | 7,455 | #38 | 4.3 |
| 1995 | 8,126 | #34 | 4.6 |
| 1994 | 8,150 | #34 | 4.6 |
| 1993 | 7,729 | #41 | 4.3 |
| 1992 | 6,903 | #48 | 3.7 |
| 1991 | 6,773 | #50 | 3.6 |
| 1990 | 7,136 | #48 | 3.8 |
| 1989 | 7,282 | #46 | 3.9 |
| 1988 | 7,145 | #46 | 4.0 |
| 1987 | 7,341 | #44 | 4.2 |
| 1986 | 7,575 | #42 | 4.4 |
| 1985 | 7,028 | #46 | 4.1 |
| 1984 | 6,041 | #51 | 3.6 |
| 1983 | 4,973 | #59 | 3.0 |
| 1982 | 5,170 | #58 | 3.1 |
| 1981 | 4,904 | #57 | 2.9 |
| 1980 | 4,868 | #59 | 2.9 |
| 1979 | 4,406 | #70 | 2.7 |
| 1978 | 3,864 | #75 | 2.5 |
| 1977 | 4,205 | #66 | 2.7 |
| 1976 | 4,028 | #67 | 2.7 |
| 1975 | 3,347 | #89 | 2.3 |
| 1974 | 2,959 | #99 | 2.0 |
| 1973 | 2,904 | #105 | 2.0 |
| 1972 | 2,797 | #115 | 1.8 |
| 1971 | 3,018 | #119 | 1.8 |
| 1970 | 2,630 | #133 | 1.5 |
| 1969 | 1,651 | #194 | 1.0 |
| 1968 | 1,536 | #202 | 0.94 |
| 1967 | 1,452 | #209 | 0.88 |
| 1966 | 1,768 | #184 | 1.0 |
| 1965 | 3,044 | #128 | 1.7 |
| 1964 | 2,077 | #181 | 1.1 |
| 1963 | 1,434 | #229 | 0.74 |
| 1962 | 1,313 | #241 | 0.67 |
| 1961 | 1,182 | #260 | 0.59 |
| 1960 | 1,068 | #277 | 0.53 |
| 1959 | 1,124 | #264 | 0.56 |
| 1958 | 987 | #284 | 0.49 |
| 1957 | 465 | #434 | 0.23 |
| 1956 | 402 | #461 | 0.20 |
| 1955 | 340 | #497 | 0.17 |
| 1954 | 290 | #520 | 0.15 |
| 1953 | 281 | #511 | 0.15 |
| 1952 | 255 | #533 | 0.14 |
| 1951 | 252 | #524 | 0.14 |
| 1950 | 157 | #680 | 0.09 |
| 1949 | 144 | #704 | 0.08 |
| 1948 | 130 | #740 | 0.08 |
| 1947 | 102 | #869 | 0.06 |
| 1946 | 85 | #907 | 0.05 |
| 1945 | 47 | #1,141 | 0.04 |
| 1944 | 45 | #1,174 | 0.03 |
| 1943 | 38 | #1,326 | 0.03 |
| 1942 | 34 | #1,388 | 0.03 |
| 1941 | 31 | #1,384 | 0.03 |
| 1940 | 24 | #1,592 | 0.02 |
| 1939 | 28 | #1,401 | 0.03 |
| 1938 | 27 | #1,439 | 0.02 |
| 1937 | 25 | #1,496 | 0.02 |
| 1936 | 30 | #1,321 | 0.03 |
| 1935 | 31 | #1,307 | 0.03 |
| 1934 | 26 | #1,440 | 0.02 |
| 1933 | 15 | #2,055 | 0.01 |
| 1932 | 21 | #1,686 | 0.02 |
| 1931 | 16 | #2,027 | 0.02 |
| 1930 | 17 | #2,025 | 0.02 |
| 1929 | 13 | #2,437 | 0.01 |
| 1928 | 22 | #1,785 | 0.02 |
| 1927 | 25 | #1,672 | 0.02 |
| 1926 | 37 | #1,279 | 0.03 |
| 1925 | 18 | #2,119 | 0.01 |
| 1924 | 18 | #2,141 | 0.01 |
| 1923 | 21 | #1,896 | 0.02 |
| 1922 | 18 | #2,113 | 0.01 |
| 1921 | 32 | #1,438 | 0.03 |
| 1920 | 23 | #1,754 | 0.02 |
| 1919 | 19 | #1,922 | 0.02 |
| 1918 | 30 | #1,412 | 0.03 |
| 1917 | 15 | #2,205 | 0.01 |
| 1916 | 24 | #1,536 | 0.02 |
| 1915 | 13 | #2,256 | 0.01 |
| 1914 | 11 | #2,130 | 0.01 |
| 1913 | 7 | #2,545 | 0.01 |
| 1912 | 12 | #1,621 | 0.02 |
| 1911 | 9 | #1,663 | 0.02 |
| 1910 | 5 | #2,415 | 0.01 |
| 1908 | 6 | #1,873 | 0.02 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Allison a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 322,944 Americans recorded as Allison, 99% are girls and 1% boys. Girls have outnumbered boys among babies named Allison every year since 1946. In 2025 it went to 2,564 girls and 6 boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Allison: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Allison, and how old are they?
311,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 96% of the 322,944 Americans ever recorded as Allison. The median Allison alive today is 31 years old; half are between 18 and 41.
The 2020 Census counted 280,746 people named Allison (279,330 women and girls, 1,416 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 297,393 born in the U.S. The Census count is 6% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 303 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 10,600 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 45,700 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 107,000 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 98,000 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 48,900 |
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 Allison born?
The states with the most babies named Allison are Texas, California and Florida, with 40% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 435 | #50 | 0.9× |
| California | 367 | #75 | 0.8× |
| Florida | 213 | #72 | 0.8× |
| New York | 105 | #153 | 1.0× |
| North Carolina | 93 | #105 | 1.0× |
| Georgia | 84 | #109 | 1.0× |
| Tennessee | 80 | #86 | 1.0× |
| Virginia | 77 | #90 | 1.1× |
| Illinois | 69 | #142 | 1.0× |
| New Jersey | 64 | #120 | 1.1× |
Where Allison is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Allison is most over-represented in New Jersey: since 1910 it was given 1.1 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 girls’ 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 Allison 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 536,487 babies since 1880, Allison is the most given (60% of them). In 2025 it was given to 2,570 of their 4,273 babies (60%), 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 Allison
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 Allison and names like it
- Compare Allison and AlisonBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1990sAllison peaked in 1994.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Allison since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Allison: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1994The year the most babies were named Allison.
- The names of the MillennialsMost people named Allison alive today were born 1981-1996.
- Names starting with AMost given first.