Allison
Developed from a medieval French pet form of Alice, which adds the diminutive ending -on. Alice traces back to the Germanic Adalheidis, beginning with adal, 'noble'.
Allison in 2025
Allison was given to 2,570 babies in the United States in 2025, making it the 254th most popular name of the year. That is roughly one in every 1,290 babies born.
The history of Allison
Allison reached its highest point in 1994, when 8,163 babies were given the name, ranking 81st that year. Its best-ever ranking was 79th, in 1995.
Across the 146 years of records since 1880, 322,944 babies have been named Allison. Half of them were born before 1995, which places the name's centre of gravity with Millennials.
Allison has switched sex over its history: it went mostly to boys in its early decades, and goes mostly to girls today.
Allison by decade
| Decade | Babies named Allison | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 70 | 1,062 |
| 1890s | 80 | 1,223 |
| 1900s | 94 | 1,633 |
| 1910s | 576 | 1,290 |
| 1920s | 837 | 1,266 |
| 1930s | 659 | 1,399 |
| 1940s | 1,064 | 1,085 |
| 1950s | 4,936 | 492 |
| 1960s | 16,928 | 237 |
| 1970s | 34,410 | 134 |
| 1980s | 62,642 | 96 |
| 1990s | 74,580 | 79 |
| 2000s | 60,097 | 100 |
| 2010s | 49,079 | 111 |
| 2020s | 16,892 | 204 |
Where Allison is heading
Allison has fallen 52% over the past decade, from 5,366 babies in 2015 to 2,570 in 2025.
Names like Allison
Names that rose and fell at the same time as Allison.