Alee
A masculine Arabic name meaning "lofty" or "sublime".
Name Census estimates that about 442 living Americans carry the first name Alee. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 88.8% of registrations being female. The average person named Alee today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Alee births was 2002 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Alee. 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
442
~ 1 in 775,462 Americans
Peak year
2002
20 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2016 SSA rank
#12,231
Tracked since 1905
Census
Alee in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 696 people with the first name Alee, which placed it at #16,263 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#16,263
National first-name rank
People counted
696
696 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
49.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Alee
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alee is White at 49.7%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (19.7%) and Black (14.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Alee described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Alee at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.7% · 346
- Asian and Pacific Islander19.7% · 137
- Black or African American14.7% · 102
- Hispanic or Latino11.5% · 80
- Two or more races2.7% · 19
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 12
Gender
Gender distribution for Alee
Alee leans heavily female at 88.8% of total registrations, but 63 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Alee as a male name
- Ranked #12,268 in 2016
- 5 male births in 2016
- Peak: 1989 (8 births)
Alee as a female name
- Ranked #12,231 in 2023
- 7 female births in 2023
- Peak: 2007 (20 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Alee on both sides of the split. Of the 702 people counted with this name, 196 were male (27.9%) and 506 were female (72.1%).
Popularity
Alee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Alee from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 157 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Alee 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 Alee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Alee
The name Alee finds its origins in Arabic culture and language, with its roots tracing back to ancient times. The name is derived from the Arabic word "ali," which means "high" or "exalted." It is often considered a variation of the popular Arabic name Ali, which has a long history of its own.
The earliest recorded use of the name Alee can be traced back to the 7th century, during the time of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the early days of Islam. One of the most notable historical figures to bear this name was Ali ibn Abi Talib, the cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad, who was also the fourth caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate.
Throughout Islamic history, the name Alee has been associated with various notable individuals. One example is Alee ibn Isa al-Asturlabi, a renowned 9th-century astronomer and mathematician from Baghdad. Another notable figure was Alee ibn Ridwan, a 10th-century physician and philosopher from Egypt.
Beyond the Islamic world, the name Alee has also been used in other cultures and regions. In India, for instance, the name has been popular among certain communities, particularly those with Islamic or Persian influences. One well-known Indian figure with this name was Alee Bahadur, a 16th-century Mughal nobleman and military commander.
In more recent times, the name Alee has continued to be used across various cultures and regions. For example, Alee Lartey was a prominent Ghanaian writer and journalist who lived from 1913 to 1968. Another notable figure was Alee Rowghani, an Iranian-American businessman and philanthropist who played a significant role in the development of the telecommunications industry.
While the name Alee has its roots in Arabic and Islamic culture, it has transcended these boundaries and gained recognition in various parts of the world. Its historical significance and association with notable figures throughout the centuries have contributed to its enduring appeal and popularity.
People
Alee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Alee 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
Alee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Alee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 442 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Alee 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 775,462 US residents.
Is Alee a common name?
We classify Alee as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 562 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Alee most popular?
The single biggest year for Alee was 2002, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Alee is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Alee in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 696 people with the name Alee, or 0.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,263 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Alee in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Alee?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Alee on both sides of the split. Of the 702 people counted with this name, 196 were male (27.9%) and 506 were female (72.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Alee?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alee is White at 49.7%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (19.7%) and Black (14.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Alee most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Alee in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.7% (346 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Alee in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Alee a female name?
Yes, 88.8% of people registered as Alee in the SSA data are female. 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.
Is Alee still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Alee in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Alee can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many Americans are named Alee?
See how many people have the name Alee on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.