Find out how popular the last name Alai is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Alai.

Alai, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Alai surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Alai in America

Alai is the 87335th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Alai surname appeared 213 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Alai.

We can also compare 2010 data for Alai to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Alai

The surname ALAI has its roots in the Middle East, specifically in regions that are now part of modern-day Iran and Iraq. It is believed to have originated in the 7th or 8th century AD, during the Islamic Golden Age. The name is thought to be derived from the Arabic word "alayy," which means "elevated" or "exalted."

One of the earliest recorded instances of the ALAI surname can be found in a collection of medieval Persian manuscripts dating back to the 10th century. These manuscripts contain references to a scholar and poet named Abul Hasan Ali ibn Ahmad al-Alai, who lived in the city of Shiraz during the latter part of the 9th century.

In the 12th century, a prominent Sunni Muslim scholar and jurist named Izzuddin al-Alai gained renown for his works on Islamic jurisprudence and theology. He was born in the city of Mosul, which was then part of the Abbasid Caliphate, and lived from 1115 to 1191 AD.

The ALAI surname also appears in historical records from the Mamluk Sultanate, which ruled over parts of the Middle East and North Africa from the 13th to the 16th century. One notable figure from this period was Shamsuddin al-Alai, a renowned astronomer and mathematician who lived in Cairo during the 14th century.

As the centuries passed, the ALAI surname spread to other regions, including parts of Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. In the 16th century, a Persian poet named Mirza Muhammad Rafi al-Alai gained fame for his ghazals (a form of poetic expression) and was patronized by the Mughal Emperor Akbar.

Another prominent individual with the ALAI surname was Hafiz Muhammad Alai, a Sufi mystic and scholar who lived in the city of Lahore during the 17th century. He was known for his teachings on Islamic spirituality and his commentaries on the works of renowned Sufi poets.

As the Ottoman Empire expanded its territories in the 16th and 17th centuries, the ALAI surname also found its way into parts of the Balkans and Anatolia. One notable figure from this period was Ismail al-Alai, a Turkish scholar and theologian who lived in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) during the late 16th century.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Alai

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Alai.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Alai was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Alai has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Alai was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Alai, please contact us.

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