Recorded 1905–2025 · United States
Alison was most popular in 1986, when 3,000 American babies were given the name — ranking #197 that year. In 2025 it ranked #955, with 649 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 117,481 people named Alison.
Alison first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1905, which makes it about 120 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 117 of the 121 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 117,481 American births named Alison between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 111,323 are estimated to be alive today.
649 American babies were named Alison in 2025, ranking #955 that year.
Alison is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 667 births a year, against 1,126 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -41% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Alison is a girl’s name — 99.5% of the 117,481 Americans given it were girls and 0.5% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 100% girls and 0% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 111,323 Americans named Alison are alive today — 95% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 40 years old, and half are between 27 and 51.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
A variant of Allison · Norman French · a diminutive of Alice
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Alison on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org