Ali

From Arabic عَلِيّ (ʕaliyy, literally “high, exalted”), from the Arabic root ع ل ي (ʕ l y).

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑːli/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːli

Ali (plural Alis)

1. A male given name from Arabic.
3. (Islam) The Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib, considered by Shias to be Muhammad's first successor (imam).

   Synonym: (birth name & common epithet in Shia literature) Haydar

4. A surname from Arabic.

Shortening.

• Aly, Alee, Allie

• IPA^(key): /ˈæli/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æli

Ali (plural Alis)

1. A diminutive of the female given name Alison or of its variants.
2. A diminutive of the male given name Alistair or of its variants.

From Mandarin 阿里 (Ālǐ).

• enPR: ä′lē′^[1]
• Hyphenation: A‧li

Ali

1. Synonym of Ngari: the Mandarin Chinese-derived name.
   • 2000, “To Kailash”, in Atsushi Kanamaru, editor, Mapping the Tibetan World‎^[1], 1st edition, Kotan Publishing, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 136, column 1:

     The Ngari area is now known as the Ali Prefecture of the TAR. Commonly called Ali, the Chinese-built town of Shiquanhe is the administrative center of the area. […]
     Although the area of Ali Prefecture is around the same size as Italy or the state of Arizona (300,000 sq km), it is dominated by the barren Changthang Plateau and is sparsely populated with only approximately 70,000 people.

   • 2012 October 20, “Staring at the sun from the roof of the world”, in South China Morning Post‎^[2], →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 14 December 2024, China:

     Liu cursed the lifeless wasteland around them. This wasn't another planet, it was Ali prefecture, Tibet. Altitude: 4,500 metres. And these astronomers were on a mission.

   • 2025 July 16, Ling Xin, “China joins US in hunt for ripples in spacetime with new telescope in Tibet”, in South China Morning Post‎^[3], →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 July 2025, Science:

     The Ali Cosmic Microwave Background Polarisation Telescope (AliCPT), perched at 5,250 metres (17,220 ft) in Tibet’s remote Ali prefecture, was finished this month after eight years of construction involving 16 institutions worldwide, including Stanford University, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Ali.

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Ali is the 559th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 60,002 individuals. Ali is most common among Asian/Pacific Islander (42.91%), Black (30.71%) and White (17.33%) individuals.

• -ial, IAL, LIA, Lai, ail, lai

Ali m

1. a male given name

• IPA^(key): /ˈaːli/, (less common) /aːˈli/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Ali
• Rhymes: -aːli

From Arabic عَلِيّ (ʕaliyy).

Ali m

1. a male given name from Arabic, equivalent to English Ali
   • 1978, “Ajoen Ajoen”, in Anton Beuving (lyrics), Harry Bannink (music), Weerzien met Indië‎^[4], performed by Wieteke van Dort:

     Ga niet baden daar in de kali / en ga niet trouwen daar in Pesapen / Laat je raden, m'n kleine Ali / wanneer ik jou met raad van dienst wil zijn

     Don't go bathing out there in the river / and don't get married out there in Pesapen / Take good counsel, my little Ali / when I wish to be of service to you with advice

• Ali Chemicali
• Ali en Fatima

From Adelheid.

Ali f

1. a female given name, equivalent to English Ethel, most common in the mid-twentieth century
   • 1956, “Ali Cyaankali”, in Annie M.G. Schmidt (lyrics), Cor Lemaire (music), De Familie Doorsnee‎^[5], performed by Lia Dorana:

     Ik ben Ali Cyaankali / De gevaarlijke vrouw van Rotterdam / En kijk ik es fijn gaan / Op de Lijnbaan / Ik zet iedereen in vuur en vlam

     I am Cyanide Ali / The dangerous woman of Rotterdam / And look at me swaggering / About the Lijnbaan / I set everyone's heart on fire

• Lia

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑli/, [ˈɑ̝li]
• Rhymes: -ɑli
• Syllabification^(key): A‧li
• Hyphenation^(key): A‧li

A diminutive form of Finnish Aleksanteri.

Ali

1. (now rare) a male given name

From Arabic عَلِيّ (ʕaliyy) as a Muslim name.

Ali

1. a male given name from Arabic, practically exclusively used by Tatars or Muslim immigrants

• Ali is the 250^th most common male given name in Finland, belonging to 2,008 male individuals (and as a middle name to 1,743 more), and also belongs as a middle name to 813 female individuals, according to August 2025 data from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency of Finland.

Eventually from Arabic عَلِيّ (ʕaliyy).

• IPA^(key): /ˈaːli/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Ali m (proper noun, strong, genitive Alis)

1. Ali (name)

Ali m (strong, genitive Alis, plural Alis)

1. (informal, usually derogatory) a Muslim, especially Turkish, immigrant (or descendant of immigrants)

• The use of Ali as a placeholder name for an average Muslim immigrant is not necessarily pejorative, but the use as a common noun (as in irgendein Ali, die Alis) usually is.

• Aische (female equivalent)

Borrowed from Arabic عَلِيّ (ʕaliyy).

• IPA^(key): /ʔà.lí/
  • (Standard Kano Hausa) IPA^(key): [ʔà.lɪ́]

Àli m

1. Ali (son-in-law of Muhammad)
2. a male given name, equivalent to English Ali

From Arabic عَلِيّ (ʕaliyy, literally “high, exalted”), from the Arabic root ع ل ي (ʕ l y)

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈali/ [ˈa.li]
• Rhymes: -ali
• Syllabification: A‧li

Ali

1. a male given name from Arabic, equivalent to English Ali
2. Ali ibn Abi Talib (son-in-law of Muhammad)

Borrowed from Arabic عَلِيّ (ʕaliyy).

Alī m sg (genitive Alis or Alī); indeclinable, variously declined, third declension

1. (post-classical) Ali (son-in-law of Muhammad)
2. (post-classical) a male given name, equivalent to English Ali

Third-declension noun (i-stem, accusative singular in -im, ablative singular in -ī) or indeclinable noun, singular only.

For genitive and accusative see e.g. D. Anton Friedrich Büsching, Magazin für die neue Historie und Geographie, vol. 17 (at Google Books, pages 14, 57 and 62)

• Cali

Borrowed from Arabic عَلِيّ (ʕaliyy, literally “high, exalted”)

Ali

1. a male given name from Arabic
2. a surname from Arabic

• IPA^(key): /ˈa.li/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ali
• Syllabification: A‧li
• Homophone: ali

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Ali m pers

1. (rare) a male given name, equivalent to English Ali

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Ali f

1. genitive/dative/locative singular of Ala

• Ali in Polish dictionaries at PWN

From Old Galician-Portuguese Ali, from Arabic عَلِيّ (ʕaliyy).

Ali m

1. a male given name from Arabic, equivalent to English Ali

Borrowed from Arabic عَلِيّ (ʕaliyy).

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

Ali

1. a male given name from Arabic

Borrowed from Arabic عَلِيّ (ʕaliyy, literally “high, exalted”).

• (Sinūgan Parianun) IPA^(key): /ʔali/ [ʔɑˈli]
• Rhymes: -i
• Syllabification: A‧li

Ali (Sulat Sūg spelling اَلِ)

1. a male given name from Arabic

Ali

1. a female given name

• Center for aboriginal studies (2014), “Ali”, in 原住民族人名譜 [Dictionary of Indigenous Names in Taiwan]‎^[6] (in Chinese), Taipei: Council of Indigenous Peoples

From Ottoman Turkish علی (Ali), from Arabic عَلِيّ (ʕaliyy).

Ali

1. a male given name from Arabic