Meaning and history
Alison is a Norman French diminutive of Aalis, the medieval form of Alice, and ultimately belongs to a Germanic name family meaning "noble." It was common in medieval England, Scotland and France, then returned to wider English use through Scotland in the twentieth century. Unlike many English names ending in -son, it is not patronymic. Notable bearers include bluegrass singer Alison Krauss and cartoonist Alison Bechdel.
20062006: 1,217 births, rank #271
2007: 1,170 births, rank #290
2008: 1,247 births, rank #275
2009: 1,448 births, rank #228
2010: 1,219 births, rank #269
20112011: 1,272 births, rank #253
2012: 1,184 births, rank #275
2013: 1,072 births, rank #298
2014: 1,118 births, rank #292
2015: 967 births, rank #338
20162016: 974 births, rank #343
2017: 816 births, rank #383
2018: 770 births, rank #400
2019: 758 births, rank #413
2020: 699 births, rank #440
20212021: 660 births, rank #473
2022: 692 births, rank #458
2023: 654 births, rank #471
2024: 674 births, rank #465
20252025: 644 births, rank #476
Alison moved from #465 to #476 for girls between 2024 and 2025. Its highest annual birth count came in 1980, with 2,980 births.