Alyson
A feminine name of French origin meaning "Of noble kind".
Name Census estimates that about 28,121 living Americans carry the first name Alyson. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Alyson today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Alyson births was 1990 (741 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Alyson. 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 Alyson with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
28K
~ 1 in 12,189 Americans
Peak year
1990
741 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2004 SSA rank
#1,234
Tracked since 1944
Census
Alyson in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 25,719 people with the first name Alyson, which placed it at #1,379 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
#1,379
National first-name rank
People counted
26K
25,719 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
8.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
77.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Alyson
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alyson is White at 77.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.6%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Alyson 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 Alyson at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.3% · 19,887
- Hispanic or Latino13.6% · 3,509
- Two or more races3.2% · 815
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.7% · 699
- Black or African American2.7% · 695
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 114
Gender
Gender distribution for Alyson
Out of the 29,582 babies given the name Alyson since 1880, 100.0% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Alyson as a male name
- Ranked #11,428 in 2004
- 5 male births in 2004
- Peak: 1986 (5 births)
Alyson as a female name
- Ranked #1,234 in 2024
- 189 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1990 (741 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Alyson appears almost entirely female. Of the 25,713 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Alyson: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Alyson from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 6,614 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Alyson 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 Alyson during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Alysons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 50 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Alyson, while Alaska, South Dakota, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 526 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Alyson
The name Alyson originated as an English variant of the French name Alison, which itself is a medieval diminutive form of the name Alice. Alice, in turn, is derived from the German name Adalheidis, which means "noble sort" or "noble natured." The name Adalheidis is a compound of the Germanic elements "adal," meaning noble, and "heid," meaning sort or natured.
The earliest recorded use of the name Alyson dates back to the late 16th century in England. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Alyson Crane, an English writer and poet who lived from 1592 to 1659. She is remembered for her poetic works that explored themes of love, nature, and spirituality.
In the 17th century, Alyson Brownrigg, born in 1628, was a notable English Quaker preacher and writer. She was a strong advocate for religious freedom and played a significant role in the early development of the Quaker movement in England.
Moving into the 18th century, Alyson Halkett, born in 1694, was a Scottish novelist and biographer. She is best known for her autobiographical work, "The Memoirs of the Life of Mrs. Alyson Halkett," which provides valuable insights into the lives of women in 17th-century Scotland.
In the 19th century, Alyson Granger was an American writer and educator who lived from 1825 to 1905. She was a pioneering figure in the field of women's education and established several schools for girls in New England.
Another notable bearer of the name is Alyson Wynn, an American artist and sculptor born in 1943. Her works, often featuring intricate metalwork and mixed media, have been exhibited in galleries and museums across the United States.
While the name Alyson has ancient roots, it gained popularity in the 20th century, particularly in the English-speaking world. Throughout its history, the name has been associated with individuals who have made significant contributions in various fields, including literature, religion, education, and the arts.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Alyson
People
Alyson + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Alyson 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
Alyson: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Alyson?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 28,121 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Alyson 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 12,189 US residents.
Is Alyson a common name?
We classify Alyson as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 29,582 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Alyson most popular?
The single biggest year for Alyson was 1990, when 741 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Alyson is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Alyson in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 25,719 people with the name Alyson, or 8.52 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,379 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 Alyson 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 Alyson?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Alyson appears almost entirely female. Of the 25,713 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Alyson?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alyson is White at 77.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.6%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Alyson most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Alyson in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.3% (19,887 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 Alyson in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Alyson a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Alyson 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 Alyson still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Alyson 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 Alyson 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 people have the name Alyson?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.