Ali
From Hebrew, meaning "high, exalted". In Poland it goes almost only to boys and stays rare enough that most people have never met one, holding a steady spot just inside the top thousand.
Ali Pronunciation
Ali is pronounced AH-lee (/ˈali/).
What Ali means
Where Ali comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
The name Ali reaches back to a Hebrew root, ʿalah, meaning to rise or to go up. From that root grows the sense of high and exalted, which Polish records as wysoki and szlachetny. In the Hebrew scriptures the short form belongs to Eli, the old priest at Shiloh who raised the boy Samuel. So the name is old.
Its wider fame runs through Arabic and Turkish. Ali ibn Abi Talib, cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, gave the name a standing across the Muslim world, and in Turkey Ali stays among the most common men's names on record. The spelling stayed short and the meaning stayed high.
In a Polish class register the name now sits between Alicja and Amelia without much comment. The word for exalted is one that Hebrew, Arabic, and Turkish have each carried. The Hebrew root said rise, and the name kept saying wysoki.
How many people are named Ali
1 in 9391 men in Poland is named Ali. 2,282 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #671 among male names.
Ali's popularity over time
17 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #546 among newborns. It is making a comeback after a low in 2004.
Where parents choose Ali
Ali is most popular in Masovian, 223% above the national average (35 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Łódź (+81%) and Greater Poland (+52%). It is least common in Silesian and Lesser Poland, 71% and 57% below average respectively.
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Masovian
+223%1 in 10,122 babies
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Łódź
+81%1 in 18,103 babies
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Greater Poland
+52%1 in 21,524 babies
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Silesian
−71%1 in 113,792 babies
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Lesser Poland
−57%1 in 75,639 babies
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Pomeranian
−56%1 in 73,661 babies
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Masovian+223% 35 born1 in 10,122 babies+223%
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Łódź+81% 7 born1 in 18,103 babies+81%
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Greater Poland+52% 10 born1 in 21,524 babies+52%
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Lower Silesian+4% 5 born1 in 31,427 babies+4%
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West Pomeranian−22% 2 born1 in 42,213 babies−22%
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Pomeranian−56% 2 born1 in 73,661 babies−56%
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Lesser Poland−57% 3 born1 in 75,639 babies−57%
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Silesian−71% 2 born1 in 113,792 babies−71%
Ali as a middle name
Ali is a first name for 2,282 men in Poland and a middle name for another 902, a 72/28 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 237th, between Werner (910) and Maximilian (895).