Ali (name)

Ali is a common unisex name.

Ali

Calligraphic seal featuring Caliph Ali's name, on display in the Hagia Sophia
Pronunciation	Arabic: [ˈʕalijj] Persian: [ʔæˈliː] Turkish: [ˈali] Urdu: [ʔəˈliː] Finnish: [ˈɑli]
Gender	Male or Female
Language(s)	Arabic, Azerbaijani, English Finnish Persian, Turkish, Urdu, others
Origin
Meaning	Arabic: Eminent, high, exalted, champion, noble Finnish: Diminutive of Alexander (other languages) Originated from: Arabia
Region of origin	Universal
Other names
Variant form(s)	Ally, Aly, Alli, Alley, Allie, Aliy, Aliyy, Alee

In Arabic, Ali is derived from the Arabic root ʕ-l-w, which literally means "high", "elevated" or "champion", and is used as both a given name and surname. Islamic traditional use of the name goes back to the Islamic leader Ali ibn Abi Talib, but the name is also present among some pre-Islamic Arabs (e.g. Banu Hanifa, and some rulers of Saba and Himyar). It is identical in form and meaning to the Hebrew: עֵלִי, Eli, which goes back to the High Priest Eli in the biblical Books of Samuel.

Ali as a surname has become popular in domains under the influence of Islamic culture. This is especially so in the Caribbean where indentured labourers from South Asia were brought to replace African slave labour after the end of the Transatlantic slave trade, in countries such as Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.[1]

The name Ali is also used in various other cultures as a given name. Among English speakers it is used as a short form of male or female names starting with "Ali", such as Alice, Alison, Alisha, Alistair, Alexander, or Alexandra. In Old Norse, Áli and Åle are alternative forms of Onela. Ali is a Finnish male given name, derived from Aleksanteri.[2]