Alison is a female given name in English-speaking countries. It was originally a medieval French nickname for Alis / Alys, an old form of Alice derived with the suffix -on or -son sometimes used in the former French nicknames. The Middle English form was Alisoun.
The variant spelling Allison is the most common form in the United States. Other variations include Alisson, Allisson, Allyson, Allysson, Alyson, Alysson, Alicen and Alycen, with nicknames Allie, Alley, Alie, Ali, Ally, Aly, Al, Aley and Alli.
Allison also has separate, disputed roots as a family name. Men were named Alison from the transferred use of surnames as first names.
Alison, variant form Alizon, is also a French surname.
Popularity
The name is first recorded in Scotland in the 12th century. It was popular until the early 19th century and, spelled Allison, was the 45th most common name given to baby girls in the United States in 2005 (Allyson was #253; Alison, #259; Alyson, #468; Allie, #256; Ally, #656; and Alice, #414). In 1990 in the United States, Allison was the 228th most popular name for women of all ages; Alison was #347, Allyson, #775; Alyson, #981; Allie, #764; Ali, #2434; and Alice, #51. Alison in any spelling did not enter the top 100 baby names in 2005 in England and Wales.
Allison last entered the top 1000 baby names for males in the United States in 1946, when it ranked #968. In the 1910s it ranked from 667 to 981, and in the first decade of the 20th century, it ranked as high as #927.
In Lusophone countries like Brazil and Portugal, Alison and variant forms are also used as masculine given names.
People named Alison
Women
Male
- Allison Deforest Pickett (1900âÂÂ1991), Canadian entomologist
- Alisson Becker (born 1992), Brazilian footballer
- Allison Brooks (1917âÂÂ2006), American Air Force aviator
- Allison Burnett (born 1958), American screenwriter
- Alison Cerutti (born 1985), Brazilian beach volleyball player
- Allison Danzig (1898âÂÂ1987), American sports journalist
- Alison dos Santos (born 2000), Brazilian athlete
- Allison G. Catheron (1878âÂÂ1950), Canadian-born American politician
- Alison Lopes Ferreira (born 1993), commonly known as Alison, Brazilian former footballer
- Allison Blakely (born 1940), American academic historian
- Alison Felipe dos Santos Natividade (born 1998), commonly known as Alison, Brazilian footballer
- Alison Henrique Mira (born 1995), commonly known as Alison, Brazilian footballer
- Allison PatrÃÂcio (born 1986), Brazilian footballer
- Alison White (1881âÂÂ1962), English cricketer
- Allison Green (1911âÂÂ2005), American politician
- Allison Clark Bonnell (1801âÂÂ1875), commonly known as A. C. Bonnell, American politician and businessman
- Allison B. Humphreys (1906âÂÂ1993), former justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court
- Allison Amos Pettengill (1808âÂÂ1882), American politician and newspaper editor
- Allison Tatham-Warter (1917âÂÂ1992), commonly known as Digby Tatham-Warter, British Army officer
- Allison Dysart (1880âÂÂ1962), Canadian politician, lawyer and judge
- Allison Madueke (born 1944), retired Nigerian naval officer
- Allison Davis (1902âÂÂ1983), American educator, anthropologist, writer, researcher, and scholar
- Allison DeLong (1940âÂÂ2014), Canadian politician
Fictional
See also
References
External links