Al

Where Al comes from

The dictionaries list Al as a given name — a diminutive of the male given names Alan, Albert, Alexander, Alfred, and other male or female names beginning with Al- , from the Celtic languages, the Germanic languages, Ancient Greek, or Old English — but don't trace where it came from. The record below is what the SSA data shows.

  • 1 syllable
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #526 among boys — 12 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1899
    Al Capone born
    American gangster
  3. 1910
    Peak, #285
    73 babies named Al — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1948
    Al Gore born
    Vice President of the United States from 1993 to 2001
  5. 2001
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #2,797.
In the dictionary
  • A diminutive of the male given names Alan, Albert, Alexander, Alfred, and other male or female names beginning with Al- , from the Celtic languages, the Germanic languages, Ancient Greek, or Old English.
Namesakes
  • Al Gore · Vice President of the United States from 1993 to 2001, born 1948
  • Al Capone · American gangster, 1899–1947
  • Al Jarreau · American jazz and pop singer, 1940–2017
  • Al Franken · American comedian and politician, born 1951
  • Al Sharpton · American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host, born 1954

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.