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Alpha

#13,294 in 2025UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Meaning and linguistic origin unconfirmed

Alpha has been given to 10,045 babies in the U.S. since 1880. In 2025 it ranked #13,294 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 1916, with 198 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 72% girls, 28% boys all-time.

Babies named Alpha, 2025

1 in 553,000

Alpha over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
05010015020018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Alpha over time

In 2025, Alpha went to 8% girls and 92% boys.

18802025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Alpha: meaning, origin, and history

Meaning and linguistic origin unconfirmed

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Alpha means

Alpha is a given name.

The naming story behind Alpha

Wikidata records Alpha as a unisex given name. The entity identifier is Q28914205, and the classification was checked on 2026-10-20. The spelling matches a source label or alias exactly, without removing accents or linking it to a name merely because the letters look similar.

A database classification is different from an etymological explanation, so those questions remain open in the short meaning.

A modern root explanation needs an additional naming or linguistic reference.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 7,188 girls were recorded with the name Alpha between 1880 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 198 in 1916; its best national rank was #301 in 1881.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #12,219 in 2020 to #13,294 in 2025.

In the United States, 2,857 boys were recorded with the name Alpha between 1880 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 75 in 2024; its best national rank was #491 in 1882.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #2,113 in 2020 to #2,079 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #2,768 in 2015 to #2,079 in 2025.

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.

How common is Alpha?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 553,000
6 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 268,000
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#13,294
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
382,984 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Alpha 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 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 382,984 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Alpha. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Alphas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Alpha was born before 1920 — so the typical Alpha is around 105 today.

Median birth year
1920
About 105 years old
Biggest decade
1910s
21.4% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
1.8%
Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950
887
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1910s — 21.4% of all recorded uses (1,537).

Is Alpha 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
+2,119
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
−1,075
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
3.0%
Peak was 1916 (198)
Years since peak
109
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
45.1% average annual change
Best rank ever
#301
1881

Spellings of Alpha

Alpha is not the most common spelling — Alma is, with 20.2% against Alpha's 0.89%.

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 Alpha is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Alpha was most concentrated in Kentucky — about 1 in 5,263 girls, against 1 in 39,263 across all states with data. It was least common in Wisconsin (1 in —).

019 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Kentucky1 in 5,263
  2. 2Oklahoma1 in 6,667
  3. 3Arkansas1 in 9,091
  4. 4Missouri1 in 12,500
  5. 5North Dakota1 in 14,286
  6. 6Tennessee1 in 20,000
  7. 7Virginia1 in 20,000
  8. 8West Virginia1 in 20,000

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. Alpha has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Alpha is used — boys

Across 2016–2025, Alpha was most concentrated in New York — about 1 in 6,250 boys, against 1 in 28,928 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in 100,000).

116 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1New York1 in 6,250
  2. 2Maryland1 in 16,667
  3. 3Ohio1 in 25,000
  4. 4Pennsylvania1 in 33,333
  5. 5Massachusetts1 in 50,000
  6. 6California1 in 100,000
  7. 7Georgia1 in 100,000
  8. 8Illinois1 in 100,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys 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.

Alpha around the world

Where Alpha 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
    2012–2021
    #5,581
    in 2021
  • South Australia
    1983–1983
    #686
    in 1983

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Alpha

People whose public names include Alpha, 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.

Alpha in other languages

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

Alfa

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

Alpha by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#13,294
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 1,075
Best rank ever
#301
1881
Peak year
1916
198 that year
First recorded
1880
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
7,188
Count in 2025
6

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#2,079
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 34
Best rank ever
#491
1882
Peak year
2024
75 that year
First recorded
1880
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
2,857
Count in 2025
71

Names similar to Alpha

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

OrphaDelphaZelphaAlphiaZilphaOphaEuphaAlpaJosephaZephaBophaSyphaZylphaElphaCleophaRaphaAlphildAlpineLephaSophaAlphonsoAlpheaAlphonsineDalpha

Names with a curve like Alpha

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

ArtieVestaFloyBlanchCecilOnaOmaDovieErnaDessieGertieLinnie

Sibling names for Alpha

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 Alpha

Top names of 1916, Alpha's peak yearThe 1910s in fullOther names that peaked in 1881Girls' names starting with A