Aly

Meaning & origin●

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◐

Aly is also recorded as 6 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• English given name58K records spelled Aly19 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Netherlands, Canada, Venezuela

  Languages: English, German, Western Frisian

  Also written Àly, Äľý, Äly, Âĺÿ, Alý

• French given name27K records spelled Aly10 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Spain, Senegal

  Languages: French, Catalan

  Also written Aly', Äly, Âlÿ, Alý, Àly

• Portuguese given name5.1K records spelled Aly8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Brazil, United States, Peru, Italy

  Also written Äly, Âlý, Alÿ, Ãly, Ály

• Indonesian given name4.8K records spelled Aly3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, United States, Malaysia, Philippines

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written ÀĹy

• a separate given name2.8K records spelled Aly3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, India, United Kingdom, Canada

  Also written Ály, 'Aly

• Turkmen given name2.3K records spelled Aly7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Turkmenistan, Türkiye, United States, Azerbaijan

  Languages: Turkmen, Turkish, Azerbaijani

  Also written Âly, Alý, Ãly

76 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●

Aly 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.

• In German, Arabic name from ʿAlī 'high, exalted'

  as a name·Deutsche Namenkunde: Unsere Familiennamen nach ihrer Entstehung und Bedeutung

• In German, from Arabic ʿali 'high, exalted'

  as a name·Deutsche Namenkunde: Unsere Familiennamen nach ihrer Entstehung und Bedeutung

• In cdo, a spade, a shovel, to cut and pare, to level (#])

  as a word·Dictionary of the Foochow Dialect

• In enm, alternative form of holy (“sacred”)

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Portuguese, obsolete spelling of ali

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

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●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 52 years between 1951–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Alib. 599SAnot in their usual name4th Rashidun Caliph (r. 656–661) and first Shia Imam
• Muhammad Alib. 1769GRnot in their usual nameWali of Egypt and Sudan (1769–1849)
• Muhammad Ali Bograb. 1909PKnot in their usual namePrime Minister of Pakistan from 1953 to 1955
• Ali Hassan Mwinyib. 1925TZnot in their usual nameTanzanian statesman (1925–2024)
• Adonisb. 1930SYnot in their usual nameSyrian poet, writer and translator (born 1930)
• Imam Khameneib. 1939IRnot in their usual nameSupreme Leader of Iran from 1989 to 2026
• Ali Abdullah Salehb. 1947YEnot in their usual namePresident of North Yemen (1978–1990) and Yemen (1990–2012)
• Ali Larijanib. 1958IRnot in their usual nameIranian politician and military officer (1958–2026)
• Ali Bongo Ondimbab. 1959GAnot in their usual namePresident of Gabon (2009–2023)
• Ali Larterb. 1976USnot in their usual nameAmerican actress and model (born 1976)

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 · 475 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Aly?

We estimate roughly 4.8 thousand people bear Aly (counting its spellings and scripts) across 10 countries in our records.

In which country does Aly have the most bearers?

Aly is most frequently recorded in Egypt, where it is most often spelled aly.

How common is Aly compared with other names?

In Egypt, Aly is the 269th most common given name of 72,792 given names recorded there.

Is Aly a male or female name?

Aly is recorded for both men and women. We don't publish a percentage split: a record's gender belongs to the person and is attached to every given name on that record, so names in cultures where a name string also carries a parent's or spouse's given name pick up large cross-gender counts.

What does the name Aly mean?

Recorded meaning: A diminutive of the female given name Alison, Alyssa, or Alexandra.