Ali

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑːli/
• Rhymes: -ɑːli

Ali (plural Alis)

1. A male given name from Arabic.
2. The Muslim caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib, considered by Shias to be Muhammad's successor.
3. A surname from Arabic.

Shortening.

• Aly, Alee, Allie

• IPA^(key): /ˈæli/
• 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.

• 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

• 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

• Ali Chemicali
• Ali en Fatima

From Adelheid.

Ali f

1. a female given name, most common in the mid-twentieth century
   • 1956, “Ali Cyaankali”, in Annie M.G. Schmidt (lyrics), Cor Lemaire (music), De Familie Doorsnee‎, 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

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 274^th most common male given name in Finland, belonging to 1,699 male individuals (and as a middle name to 1,396 more), and also belongs as a middle name to 620 female individuals, according to February 2023 data from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency of Finland.

Eventually from Arabic عَلِيّ (ʕaliyy).

• IPA^(key): /ˈaːli/

• Audio

  (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

Borrowed from Arabic عَلِيّ (ʕaliyy).

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

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

Ali

1. a male given name from Arabic