girl's name
Alicia
ah-LEE-see-ah
- Origin Germanic
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 3
- Letters 6
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 312,974
the United States
#460
2025 births
Alicia is a girl's name of Germanic origin meaning "noble," a Latinate form of Alice. It ranks 128th in France and 460th in the United States, and it is falling from a peak our records place in 1984.
- Alicia is a name of Germanic origin.
- Peaked in 1984, when 7,853 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 4,934 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1881.
- 3 syllables, with the stress on syllable 2.
Alicia over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 69 |
| 1890s | 130 |
| 1900s | 192 |
| 1910s | 755 |
| 1920s | 2,263 |
| 1930s | 2,792 |
| 1940s | 5,032 |
| 1950s | 9,914 |
| 1960s | 22,486 |
| 1970s | 39,433 |
| 1980s | 67,248 |
| 1990s | 43,592 |
| 2000s | 23,166 |
| 2010s | 10,075 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 4,350 |
What Alicia means
Alicia means noble, or of noble kind, inherited from Adelaide through Alice. The Germanic adal means noble and heid means kind or sort, so the compound describes a quality of birth rather than of character.
Where Alicia comes from
Alicia is a Latinate spelling of Alice, which came into English from the Old French Aalis, a contraction of the Germanic Adalheidis — adal, noble, and heid, kind or type. That is the same name as Adelaide, so Alice and Adelaide are one name arrived at by long and short routes. Alicia is the Spanish and Swedish form and entered English use as a deliberately ornate variant in the nineteenth century. Lewis Carroll's Alice in 1865 fixed the shorter form permanently. Alicia's own American peak in the 1980s belongs to a wave of -ia endings alongside Alexia, Cynthia and Marcia, and its French use runs later. It is unrelated to the Greek Aliki, which is a form of Alice again by a different path.
Alicia in use
Alicia ranks 128th in France with about 405 births in 2025 and 460th in the United States with 672 births, its largest market. It is falling in our data from a peak in 1984. Our records carry it from 1881. It appears across Ireland, England and Wales and Scotland too, which makes it one of the more widely spread names in the French top 200.
How popular is Alicia?
In 2025, Alicia was given to 672 babies in the United States, ranking #460 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Alicia is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Alicia
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Alicia also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Alicia over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Alicia
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Alicia in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Alicia
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Alicia — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Alicia
What does the name Alicia mean?
Alicia means "noble," inherited from Adelaide through Alice.
Is Alicia the same name as Alice?
Yes — Alicia is the Latinate form. Both come from the Germanic Adalheidis.
Is Alice the same as Adelaide?
They are the same name. Alice is the contracted French route; Adelaide keeps the full Germanic form.
How popular is Alicia?
128th in France and 460th in the United States.
Is Alicia a girl's or a boy's name?
Alicia is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Alicia?
Alicia has 3 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Alicia?
Alicia is usually shortened to Ali.
Is Alicia a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Alicia currently ranks #128 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.