Adlai
Hebrew name meaning "my refuge is God" or "God is just".
Name Census estimates that about 585 living Americans carry the first name Adlai. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 88.1% of registrations being male. The average person named Adlai today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Adlai births was 1952 (39 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Adlai. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
585
~ 1 in 585,905 Americans
Peak year
1952
39 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,885
Tracked since 1891
Gender
Gender distribution for Adlai
Adlai leans heavily male at 88.1% of total registrations, but 81 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Adlai as a male name
- Ranked #9,885 in 2024
- 7 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1952 (39 births)
Adlai as a female name
- Ranked #11,167 in 2021
- 8 female births in 2021
- Peak: 2014 (9 births)
Popularity
Adlai: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Adlai from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 196 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Adlai remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Adlai by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Adlai during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Adlais live
Origin
Meaning and history of Adlai
The given name Adlai has Hebrew origins and can be traced back to the biblical era. It is derived from the Hebrew word "Adli," which means "God's ornament" or "God is just." The name is mentioned in the Old Testament, where Adli was a prophet and a priest during the reign of King David.
The earliest recorded use of the name Adlai can be found in the Book of Chronicles, where Adli is listed as one of the priests who served in the Temple of Jerusalem. This suggests that the name has been in use for over 2,500 years.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals bearing the name Adlai. One of the most famous was Adlai Stevenson I (1835-1914), an American politician and statesman who served as the 23rd Vice President of the United States under President Grover Cleveland.
Another prominent figure was Adlai Stevenson II (1900-1965), the grandson of Adlai Stevenson I. He was a prominent American politician who served as the governor of Illinois and was twice the Democratic nominee for President of the United States, in 1952 and 1956.
In the realm of literature, Adlai E. Stevenson (1914-1965) was an American author and diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations during the 1960s. He was known for his work on international affairs and human rights.
Adlai Ewing Brown (1892-1962) was an American lawyer and civil rights activist who played a significant role in the desegregation of public schools in the United States. He represented the plaintiffs in the landmark Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education.
In the field of music, Adlai Alexander Werton (1906-1978) was an American composer and conductor known for his contributions to the development of modern dance music. He collaborated with renowned choreographers such as Martha Graham and Doris Humphrey.
While the name Adlai has Hebrew origins and a rich historical background, it has been used across various cultures and regions over the centuries, with individuals bearing this name making significant contributions in various fields.
People
Adlai + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Adlai as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Adlai: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Adlai?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 585 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Adlai going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 585,905 US residents.
Is Adlai a common name?
We classify Adlai as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 683 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Adlai most popular?
The single biggest year for Adlai was 1952, when 39 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Adlai is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Adlai a male name?
Yes, 88.1% of people registered as Adlai in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.