Aly
Meaning "supreme" or "most high" in Arabic-derived names.
Name Census estimates that about 2,108 living Americans carry the first name Aly. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 67.3% of registrations being female. The average person named Aly today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aly births was 2016 (99 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aly. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Aly with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Aly is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.1K
~ 1 in 162,597 Americans
Peak year
2016
99 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,879
Tracked since 1951
Census
Aly in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,855 people with the first name Aly, which placed it at #4,714 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
#4,714
National first-name rank
People counted
3.9K
3,855 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
53.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Aly
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aly is White at 53.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (23.5%) and Black (10.8%). 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 Aly 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 Aly at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White53.6% · 2,067
- Hispanic or Latino23.5% · 904
- Black or African American10.8% · 415
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.6% · 331
- Two or more races3.3% · 126
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 12
Gender
Gender distribution for Aly
Aly is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 2,142 total registrations, 700 (32.7%) were male and 1,442 (67.3%) were female.
Aly as a male name
- Ranked #4,559 in 2024
- 22 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2000 (29 births)
Aly as a female name
- Ranked #3,879 in 2024
- 38 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2016 (76 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Aly on both sides of the split. Of the 3,854 people counted with this name, 1,286 were male (33.4%) and 2,568 were female (66.6%).
Popularity
Aly: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aly from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 809 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Aly remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Aly 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 Aly during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Alys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. Texas, California, New York recorded the most babies named Aly, while Indiana, Arizona, Utah recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 52 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Aly
The name Aly has its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is a diminutive form of the name Ali, which is derived from the Arabic word "ali," meaning "high" or "exalted." The name gained prominence during the early days of Islam, as it was the name of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad.
The earliest recorded mention of the name Aly can be found in historical accounts from the 7th century CE, during the time of the Rashidun Caliphate. One of the most notable figures with this name was Aly Khan, the son of Sultan Mahommed Shah, Aga Khan III, who was born in 1911 and died in 1960. He was a prominent racehorse owner and breeder and was known for his lavish lifestyle.
Another famous bearer of the name Aly was Aly Bey Bahgat, an Egyptian writer and journalist who lived from 1826 to 1897. He was a pioneer in the field of journalism and is credited with establishing the first Arabic newspaper in Egypt, called "Al-Waqai'a Al-Misriyya."
In the realm of sports, Aly Raisman, an American gymnast born in 1994, has made a significant impact. She is a two-time Olympian and has won multiple medals, including three gold medals at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games.
The name Aly has also been associated with music and entertainment. Aly Bain, a Scottish fiddler and composer, was born in 1946 and is renowned for his contributions to traditional Scottish music. He has received numerous accolades, including the Order of the British Empire.
In literature, Aly Shaeen, an Egyptian novelist and short story writer born in 1910, is noteworthy. His works often explored social and political themes, and he was considered a prominent figure in the literary scene of his time.
While these are just a few examples, the name Aly has been carried by individuals from various walks of life throughout history, each leaving their mark in their respective fields and cultures.
People
Aly + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aly 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
Aly: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aly?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,108 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aly 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 162,597 US residents.
Is Aly a common name?
We classify Aly as "Rare". It ranks above 93.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,142 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aly most popular?
The single biggest year for Aly was 2016, when 99 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aly is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Aly in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,855 people with the name Aly, or 1.28 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,714 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 Aly 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 Aly?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Aly on both sides of the split. Of the 3,854 people counted with this name, 1,286 were male (33.4%) and 2,568 were female (66.6%). 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 Aly?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aly is White at 53.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (23.5%) and Black (10.8%). 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 Aly most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Aly in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.6% (2,067 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 Aly in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Aly a female name?
Yes, 67.3% of people registered as Aly 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 Aly still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Aly 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 Aly 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 common is the name Aly?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.