Ali
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Arabic. From Arabic عَلِيّ (ʕaliyy, literally “high, exalted”), from the Arabic root ع ل ي (ʕ l y).
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Ali (CC BY-SA 4.0). This is the origin of the name in English; families in Sweden may have taken it from another language.
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Ali has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2017. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Boys |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 99 |
| 1999 | 79 |
| 2000 | 87 |
| 2001 | 111 |
| 2002 | 97 |
| 2003 | 123 |
| 2004 | 103 |
| 2005 | 100 |
| 2006 | 112 |
| 2007 | 118 |
| 2008 | 128 |
| 2009 | 128 |
| 2010 | 144 |
| 2011 | 144 |
| 2012 | 152 |
| 2013 | 143 |
| 2014 | 147 |
| 2015 | 151 |
| 2016 | 175 |
| 2017 | 179 |
| 2018 | 150 |
| 2019 | 173 |
| 2020 | 135 |
| 2021 | 131 |
| 2022 | 127 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls | Men and boys |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 19 | 4,461 |
| 2000 | 20 | 4,687 |
| 2001 | 21 | 4,928 |
| 2002 | 23 | 5,199 |
| 2003 | 22 | 5,480 |
| 2004 | 23 | 5,712 |
| 2005 | 26 | 5,897 |
| 2006 | 28 | 6,386 |
| 2007 | 28 | 7,011 |
| 2008 | 27 | 7,586 |
| 2009 | 29 | 8,157 |
| 2010 | 29 | 8,590 |
| 2011 | 26 | 9,064 |
| 2012 | 24 | 9,520 |
| 2013 | 25 | 10,080 |
| 2014 | 19 | 10,717 |
| 2015 | 19 | 11,361 |
| 2016 | 15 | 12,549 |
| 2017 | 17 | 13,894 |
| 2018 | 18 | 14,896 |
| 2019 | 17 | 15,692 |
| 2020 | 16 | 15,948 |
Ali in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Ali.Hi! My name is Ali.
- Ali ringde och sa att han blir lite sen.Ali called and said he'll be a bit late.
- Vet du om Ali kommer på festen på lördag?Do you know if Ali is coming to the party on Saturday?
- Alis mamma är lärare.Ali's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Alis mamma is Ali's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Ali
How do you pronounce Ali in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Ali in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Ali mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Arabic. From Arabic عَلِيّ (ʕaliyy, literally “high, exalted”), from the Arabic root ع ل ي (ʕ l y).
How popular is Ali in Sweden?
127 babies were named Ali in 2022. In 2020, 15,964 people in Sweden had Ali as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2017 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.