Ala

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Al-A in US United States, SA Saudi Arabia, KW Kuwait and 1 more and Àlà in DZ Algeria.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 26 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Ala is also recorded as 8 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• English given name37K records spelled Ala94 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Morocco, United States, Netherlands, Belgium

  Languages: English, Dutch, Arabic

  Also written Alae, Ala', Ala’, A'La, Al-A

• Portuguese given name34K records spelled Ala31 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Spain

  Languages: Portuguese, Spanish

  Also written Alã, Alá, Ala', Al-A, Alà

• Hindi name31K records spelled Ala2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India

  Also written Ala'

• Turkish given name23K records spelled Ala27 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Türkiye

  Also written Alâ, Âlâ, Âla, Äla, Alȃ

• Russian given name15K records spelled Ala127 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Poland

  Languages: Russian, Ukrainian, Polish

  Also written Алла, Alla, Ałła, Ალლა, Ալլա

• a separate name9.4K records spelled Ala13 spellings in the group

  Also written Ala', Alá, Alà, Alã, Alâ

• French given name8.0K records spelled Ala12 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France

  Also written Àlà, Alà, Alâ, Älä, A'La

• Indonesian surname5.4K records spelled Ala13 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, Malaysia

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written A'La, A’la, 'Ala, Ala', Al-A

60 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Ala is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• Earth.

  as a name·The African book of names

• In Kurdish, Flag, banner and symbol

  as a word·kurdi.sh Kurdish personal names dictionary

• Polish: pet form of ALICJA . Variant: Alinka .

  as a word

• In tuw-pro, tasty, sweet

  as a word·StarLing Tower of Babel etymological databases (Starostin et al.)

• In Portuguese, wing, branch

  as a word·A Frequency Dictionary of Portuguese

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

IN naampy — India given names from state electoral rolls (in-rolls) — 87 years between 1917–2015. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Ala al-Din Husaynb. 1110AFmalik of the Ghurid dynasty
• Ala ad-Din Tekishb. 1132IR12th-century Khwarazm Shah
• Ala Gertnerb. 1912PLGerman Nazi concentration camp victim (1912-1945)
• Alaa Al Aswanyb. 1957EGnot in their usual nameEgyptian writer
• Alaa Mubarakb. 1960EGnot in their usual nameEgyptian businessman
• Alla Tsuperb. 1979UAnot in their usual nameUkrainian & Belarusian freestyle skier, Olympic champion
• Alaa Abd El-Fatahb. 1981EGnot in their usual nameEgyptian human rights activist
• Alaa Safib. 1984FRnot in their usual nameFrench actor, director and film producer
• Ala Al-Sasib. 1987YEfootballer
• Alaa NajjarEGnot in their usual namephysician and Wikimedian

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 480 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Ala?

We estimate roughly 16 thousand people bear Ala (counting its spellings and scripts) across 11 countries in our records.

In which country does Ala have the most bearers?

Ala is most frequently recorded in Iraq, where it is most often spelled ala.

Where is Ala most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Ala is densest in Moldova — about 1 in 296 people — even though Iraq holds more of our records for it.

How common is Ala compared with other names?

In Tunisia, Ala is the 869th most common given name of 13,955 given names recorded there.

What does the name Ala mean?

Recorded meaning: exalted, prestige, glory.