Unisex name
Ali
11,877 births (England and Wales, 1996–2025), peaking in 2024. Expression number: 4.
Origin
From Arabic عَلِيّ (ʕaliyy, literally “high, exalted”), from the Arabic root ع ل ي (ʕ l y).From Wiktionary, entry “Ali”, text under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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How many babies received it
From the official birth registers.
In England and Wales
Peak in 2024: 503 births. 11,877 births from 1996 to 2025. A name given mostly in the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s. It is still given: 2,204 births from 2021 to 2025.
Source: Office for National Statistics, Baby names in England and Wales, Open Government Licence v3.0.
In the United States
Peak in 2014: 1,251 births. 44,888 births from 1880 to 2025. A name given mostly in the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s. It is given to girls (23%) as well as boys (77%). It really came into use around 1954. It is still given: 5,710 births from 2021 to 2025.
Source: Social Security Administration, Popular Baby Names, public domain.
In Ireland
Peak in 2008: 69 births. 1,096 births from 1964 to 2025. A name given mostly in the 2000s, 2010s and 2020s. It is given to girls (58%) as well as boys (42%). It really came into use around 1999. It is still given: 140 births from 2021 to 2025.
Source: Central Statistics Office, Irish Babies' Names, CC BY 4.0.
Elsewhere in the world
The name in the birth records of the 10 countries we track. The period covered varies from country to country.
| Country | Births | Period | Best rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| France | 31,640 | 1900–2025 | 80th in 2025 |
| Switzerland | 8,043* | 1915–2025 | — |
| Quebec | 2,898 | 1980–2025 | 77th in 2025 |
| Argentina | 2,341 | 2012–2023 | — |
| Berlin | 2,263 | 2012–2023 | 10th in 2023 |
| Austria | 1,994 | 1984–2025 | 70th in 2025 |
| Belgium | 1,103 | 2014–2023 | — |
* These are the people living in the country, counted by year of birth, not the number of births.
Source: INSEE, Fichier des prénoms, Etalab Open Licence 2.0; Federal Statistical Office, First names of the population by year of birth, free use with attribution; Retraite Québec, Banque de prénoms, CC BY 4.0; RENAPER, Nombres propios en Argentina, CC BY 4.0 (the registry doesn't record sex); Open Data Berlin, Häufige Vornamen, CC BY 3.0 DE (every name a child carries, not only the first); Statistik Austria, Vornamen, CC BY 4.0; Statbel, first names of newborns, CC BY 4.0 (one total for the whole period, no yearly breakdown).
The numbers of the name
Each letter has a value: A = 1, B = 2… I = 9, then J = 1 again (Pythagorean method). We add them up, then reduce to a single digit, except 11, 22 and 33.
■ vowel · ■ consonant
Expression
All the letters: talents, the way you act.
4
work, structure, stability
1 + 3 + 9 = 13 → 4
Soul
The vowels: what drives you deep down.
1
initiative, independence, beginnings
1 + 9 = 10 → 1
Personality
The consonants: what others notice first.
3
expression, creativity, sociability
3 = 3
- Digits missing from the name
- 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
- Most frequent digit
- 1 · initiative, independence, beginnings
The meaning of the numbers comes from numerological tradition; it isn't a measure of your personality. A full portrait needs your first and middle names, your last name at birth, and your date of birth. How we calculate
Your name and theirs
The number of each name, and the number of the bond, which comes from adding them together. A symbolic game: what your two names say together, to be read as a metaphor, not as a verdict on your relationship.