Nameling

Ally

Gender
Unisex
Say it
AL-ee
Origin
English
UK rank, 2025
#2,742 for boys
US rank, 2025
#2,117 for girls

Unisex

Ally is a name of English origin. In 2025 it ranked 2,742nd for boys in the UK (8 babies) and 2,117th for girls in the US (88 babies).

What does Ally mean?

English: pet form of Allison, Alexandra and similar names

As an English word, ally means a friend or supporter, from Old French alier, 'to bind together'.

Is Ally a girl's or a boy's name?

In recent years, Ally has been given to both girls and boys. In 2025, it was given to 8 boys in the UK and 88 girls in the US.

How popular is Ally in the UK?

No girls in the UK were given it in 2025, or too few to be listed. Its busiest year was 1999, with 28 girls. 8 boys were also named Ally in 2025 (2,742nd for boys).

Half of all the girls named Ally in the UK since 1996 were born between 2001 and 2015, the years shaded on the chart below.

In 2024, 64% of the babies named Ally in the UK were girls.

1996Busiest: 28 in 19992024
Ally in the UK, year by year
YearGirlsRank
20249#2,832
20238#3,098
20227#3,347
20217#3,338
202012#2,268
201915#1,958
20187#3,344
20172#7,588
20169#2,893
20159#2,855
20143#5,920
20136#3,719
201215#2,005
201111#2,393
20108#2,992
20099#2,695
200810#2,454
20076#3,396
20068#2,657
200517#1,451
200418#1,342
200318#1,317
200223#1,053
200128#891
200019#1,137
199928#861
199810#1,815
19971#5,110
19961#5,054

How popular is Ally in the US?

Rank in 2025
#2,117among girls
Babies in 2025
88about 1 in 18,000 girls
Five-year trend
Fallingdown 40% in five years
Same name in a class
under 1%chance among 15 girls

In 2025, 88 girls in the US were named Ally, making it the 2,117th most popular name for girls. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 1,373rd. Its busiest year was 1998, with 636 girls. It first appears in the records in 1985.

It has been given to fewer girls each year for the last 13 years. 2025 had fewer girls named Ally than any year since 1996.

Half of all the girls named Ally in the US since 1880 were born between 2001 and 2013, the years shaded on the chart below.

In 2025, 652 girls in the US were given Ally or a name that sounds the same. With every name's spellings counted this way, that ranks #486, up from #2,117 for this spelling alone.

1985Busiest: 636 in 19982025
Ally in the US, year by year
YearGirlsRank
202588#2,117
2024107#1,870
2023117#1,750
2022131#1,612
2021148#1,450
2020158#1,373
2019177#1,295
2018184#1,255
2017215#1,152
2016272#984
2015319#872
2014381#737
2013463#605
2012499#584
2011419#674
2010418#686
2009349#810
2008383#767
2007419#697
2006456#630
2005425#652
2004473#594
2003394#670
2002444#582
2001383#657
2000418#605
1999540#480
1998636#417
1997184#1,035
199679#1,838
199573#1,895
199460#2,204
199374#1,894
199261#2,186
199143#2,732
199062#2,096
198955#2,189
198840#2,641
198744#2,358
198626#3,358
198513#5,346

Names like Ally

Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.

Other spellings of Ally

Names related to Ally

More English names

Every English name

Sources

Figures from Baby names in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics), Babies' first names (National Records of Scotland), Baby names (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) and Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.

To cite this page: Nameling, “Ally: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/ally, updated 20 October 2026.