girl's name
Allyson
AL-i-sun
- Origin English
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 3
- Letters 7
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 56,973
Ireland
#421
1968 births
Allyson descends from Alice by way of a French diminutive, and it is not Alice plus son — the ending is the Old French -on, the same one behind Marion, and nothing in it refers to a child.
- Allyson is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 1998, when 1,651 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 16,332 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1945.
- 3 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Allyson over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1940s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1940s | 231 |
| 1950s | 1,205 |
| 1960s | 3,090 |
| 1970s | 4,756 |
| 1980s | 7,206 |
| 1990s | 13,267 |
| 2000s | 12,952 |
| 2010s | 9,118 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 1,954 |
What Allyson means
Allyson means noble, carried from Alice. The Germanic element behind it means noble in kind, and the diminutive ending adds familiarity rather than any further sense.
Where Allyson comes from
Allyson respells Alison, a medieval French diminutive of Aalis, itself from the Germanic Adalheidis — adal, noble, joined to heid, a kind or sort. The -on is a French diminutive suffix, the same one in Marion from Marie, so reading Alison as Alice's son is a folk etymology built on an English coincidence. The name was common enough in medieval England for Chaucer to use it twice in the Canterbury Tales.
Allyson in use
Allyson peaked in the United States in 1998, when 1,651 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 1140th in the United States on 203 births and 2891st in France on 10, across 56,973 lifetime births in three of the seven markets we track. Our records carry it from 1945, so unlike Alison itself this spelling has no history before the modern period.
How popular is Allyson?
In 2025, Allyson was given to 203 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Allyson 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 Allyson
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Allyson also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Allyson over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Allyson
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.
Allyson 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.
- Portuguese
- Alison
Sibling names for Allyson
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Allyson — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Allyson
What does the name Allyson mean?
Noble, through Alice and the Germanic adal.
Does it mean Alice's son?
No. The -on is a French diminutive, the same one in Marion.
Is it in Chaucer?
Alison appears twice in the Canterbury Tales.
How popular is Allyson?
1140th in the United States, down from a 1998 peak of 1,651 births.
Is Allyson a girl's or a boy's name?
Allyson is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Allyson?
Allyson has 3 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Allyson?
Allyson is usually shortened to Ally.
Is Allyson a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Allyson currently ranks #1,140 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.