Alem
Boy · AH-lem · Arabic
Alem is a boys' name of Arabic origin, meaning “world, universe”. In 2025 it ranked 7,190th for boys in the US (11 babies).
What does Alem mean?
Arabic: Bosnian and Turkish, from Arabic alam 'world'; Amharic alem also means 'world'
“world, universe”
Used by Bosnian Muslims and also in Ethiopia, where alem is the Amharic word for world.
- Say it
- AH-lem
Is Alem a girl's or a boy's name?
Alem is a boys' name. In 2025, it was given to 11 boys in the US. Too few girls were given it to be listed.
How popular is Alem in the US?
- Rank in 2025
- #7,190among boys
- Babies in 2025
- 11about 1 in 160,000 boys
- Five-year trend
- Too rare to calltoo few babies to tell
- Same name in a class
- under 1%chance among 15 boys
In 2025, 11 boys in the US were named Alem, making it the 7,190th most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 7,029th. Its busiest year was 2006, with 16 boys. It first appears in the records in 1987.
2025 had more boys named Alem than any year since 2020.
Half of all the boys named Alem in the US since 1880 were born between 2005 and 2017, the years shaded on the chart below.
Alem in the US, year by year
| Year | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 11 | #7,190 |
| 2024 | 0 | – |
| 2023 | 5 | #12,232 |
| 2022 | 0 | – |
| 2021 | 10 | #7,582 |
| 2020 | 11 | #7,029 |
| 2019 | 7 | #9,750 |
| 2018 | 9 | #8,150 |
| 2017 | 11 | #7,091 |
| 2016 | 9 | #8,141 |
| 2015 | 16 | #5,503 |
| 2014 | 13 | #6,303 |
| 2013 | 9 | #8,113 |
| 2012 | 8 | #8,858 |
| 2011 | 14 | #5,939 |
| 2010 | 9 | #8,133 |
| 2009 | 5 | #12,486 |
| 2008 | 8 | #9,013 |
| 2007 | 10 | #7,586 |
| 2006 | 16 | #5,299 |
| 2005 | 12 | #6,220 |
| 2004 | 6 | #9,941 |
| 2003 | 10 | #6,708 |
| 2002 | 8 | #7,636 |
| 2001 | 7 | #8,332 |
| 2000 | 0 | – |
| 1999 | 7 | #7,867 |
| 1998 | 0 | – |
| 1997 | 5 | #9,259 |
| 1996 | 0 | – |
| 1995 | 0 | – |
| 1994 | 0 | – |
| 1993 | 0 | – |
| 1992 | 0 | – |
| 1991 | 0 | – |
| 1990 | 0 | – |
| 1989 | 0 | – |
| 1988 | 0 | – |
| 1987 | 6 | #6,083 |
Names like Alem
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Hamza Zahir Amir Ahmir Zayd Abdullah Ahmad Arham Muhammad Salem Musa Zayan
Names related to Alem
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