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Ally

#2,118 in 2025Girls' name

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Ally has been given to 10,247 babies in the U.S. since 1985. In 2025 it ranked #2,118 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 1998, with 636 recorded.

Babies named Ally, 2025

1 in 37,700

Ally over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Ally: meaning, origin, and history

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Ancient Greek, Germanic languages and Celtic languages

What Ally means

Ally has more than one naming route in the cited origin entries: distinct naming traditions.

The naming story behind Ally

A separate documented entry treats Ally as a diminutive of Alison. That is a personal-name relationship, which differs from translating the letters of the modern spelling into one universal English word. The linked origin entry identifies the context of this relationship.

A separate documented entry treats Ally as a diminutive of Alistair. That is a personal-name relationship, which differs from translating the letters of the modern spelling into one universal English word. The linked origin entry identifies the context of this relationship.

Origin, language, and formation

Ally is used in English. Its origins include Ancient Greek, Germanic languages and Celtic languages.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Alice, Alison, Alexandra, Alfred, Albert, Alan and Alexander.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Ally is pronounced /ˈæliː/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 10,230 girls were recorded with the name Ally between 1985 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 636 in 1998; its best national rank was #417 in 1998.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #1,373 in 2020 to #2,118 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #872 in 2015 to #2,118 in 2025.

In the United States, 17 boys were recorded with the name Ally between 1996 and 2024. Its highest annual count was 7 in 2024; its best national rank was #9,054 in 1996.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Ally?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 37,700
88 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 18,300
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#2,118
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
26,114 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Ally sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 5001%

Put another way: gather 26,114 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Ally. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Allys were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Ally was born before 2007 — so the typical Ally is around 18 today.

Median birth year
2007
About 18 years old
Biggest decade
2000s
40.5% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
76.5%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
10,230
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2000s — 40.5% of all recorded uses (4,144).

Is Ally rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−246
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−745
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−1,246
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.28×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
13.8%
Peak was 1998 (636)
Years since peak
27
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Steady
11.6% average annual change
Best rank ever
#417
1998

Spellings of Ally

Ally is not the most common spelling — Amy is, with 21.0% against Ally's 0.31%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Ally is used

Across 2016–2025, Ally was most concentrated in Alabama — about 1 in 4,762 girls, against 1 in 11,789 across all states with data. It was least common in New Jersey (1 in 50,000).

221 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Alabama1 in 4,762
  2. 2Kentucky1 in 5,263
  3. 3Georgia1 in 7,692
  4. 4Tennessee1 in 7,692
  5. 5Mississippi1 in 9,091
  6. 6North Carolina1 in 9,091
  7. 7Texas1 in 9,091
  8. 8California1 in 10,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Ally around the world

Where Ally ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1998–2024
    #2,772
    in 2024
  • Scotland
    1998–2023
    #749
    in 2023
  • Northern Ireland
    2003–2005
    #377
    in 2005
  • Ireland
    1999–2025
    #483
    in 2025
  • France
    2001–2025
    #2,732
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1991–2024
    #1,349
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1989–2013
    #818
    in 2013

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS, NISRA data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Ally

People whose public names include Ally, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Ally in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Ally. Linked forms have their own page here.

AlyAlliEllyAllie

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Ally by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#2,118
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 745
Best rank ever
#417
1998
Peak year
1998
636 that year
First recorded
1985
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
10,230
Count in 2025
88

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#9,054
1996
Peak year
2024
7 that year
First recorded
1996
Last recorded
2024
All-time count
17
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Ally

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

AlliAlleneEllyAllaNellyAllieAllynBillyAllyssaAllanaDollyAlleeAlleyAllegraPollyAllenaMillyTillyReillyAlliyahAllenLillyAlluraAllyson

Names with a curve like Ally

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Ally, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

EmmaleeZoieAbbigailKailynAshtynKaileeJaidaMaceyJazmynKaylynnCaleighLexie

Sibling names for Ally

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Ally

Top names of 1998, Ally's peak yearThe 1990s in fullOther names that peaked in 1998Girls' names starting with A