Alison

“Of noble kind” — Germanic via Old French origin

Girl's name · #476 in the US (2025) · 80s

Alison's best rank, #96, came in 1986; it has settled back to #476 today. Roughly 117,000 girls have been named Alison since 1905. Alison's short forms are Allie, Ally, and Aly. About 630 girls a year are given Allie as their full name. Together with its spelling variants Allison (#103) and Alisson (#511), Alison would rank around #61 with about 3,800 births last year — the newborns split about 68/17/15 across Allison, Alison, and Alisson.

Around the world: about 1 in 1,100 girls in Ireland (2025) · about 1 in 1,400 girls in New Zealand (2025) · about 1 in 5,100 girls in Canada (2024).

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 39 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Famous Alisons

Alison Brie — American actress and writer (born 1982)
Alison Krauss — American musician
Alison Lohman — American actress
Alison Pill — Canadian actress (born 1985)
Alison Bechdel — American cartoonist, author

In stories & tradition

Alison (Dazzler) — Uncanny X-Men
Alison DiLaurentis — Pretty Little Liars · Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists
Alison Stewart — As the World Turns

What Alisons become

Among 1,163 notable people named Alison:

Scientists & scholars appear 1.35× more often than among typical names — e.g. Alison Weir, British historian & novelist (born 1951).

Similar names: Alisson · Kara · Alicia · Katie · Alisha · Amber

Browse more girl names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

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