Ali boys and girls name

[KatPatPat]

We call our girl Ali, but I had a few comments that said that it’s a boys name (Arabic and Turkish), and it makes me feel apprehensive calling it out loud in public, and also my girl commented why is it that we used boys' name for her (I know it is not pronounced the same).

Would you think Ali is a female or male if you see it written on a resume or a card?

I would think it was a boys name if it was the full name and a girls name if short for Alison which it might well be. Given in any situation in which you were calling your daughter Ali I’d have no way of knowing if it’s a nickname or not, it wouldn’t cross my mind that it was the boys name.

Yes I agree with this.

I agree with the first answer. A boys name or nickname of a longer girls name. If I was a girl then I would probably use Ally or Alli even if my name only had one L.

I suppose Ally/Allie is a more traditionally feminine way of spelling Ali but they all sound the same. I wouldn’t think of Ali as masculine, it’s gender neutral and I know men and women with the name who all suit it.

For most people in the Uk it will be a girls’ short form of Alice / Alexandra / Alison - in Scotland especially it’s sometimes used for boys’ as a short form of Alexander / Alistair.

Obviously it’s also a boys’ full name in Arabic cultures.

So I wouldn’t worry about it.

I'm an Alexandra but am always known to family and close friends as Ali. Alex to everyone else.
I've had more issues with people assuming I'm male when hearing Alex than Ali.

Ali was popular in my age group, short for Alison, Alexandra, etc.
Ali McGraw was in Love Story (1970).

I think I'd go by the spelling and surname.
Ally Mc- looks scottish and masculine, for example, but Ali Mc- looks feminine.

It sounds a lot like Hallie and Ellie, which are popular girls' names.

I didn't vote because it's unisex. I wouldn't have any preconceived ideas. It can be short for Alice, Alison, Alexandra, Alistair, Alexander etc, as well as a name in it's own right. Granted usually male if just Ali, but I wouldn't be totally surprised to meet a female who is just Ali.

Is she just Ali, or Alice/Alison etc on her birth certificate? If just Ali for short I can't ever see it being a problem as she has the longer version to fall back on. Ally or Allie might feel more feminine. She could always opt to change the spelling when she's older to move aware from the stand alone boy's name Ali.

I would think Ali is a boy Allie is a girl

There is the movie star Ali MacGraw - born Elizabeth Alice MacGraw.

I see Ali as fine for either a boy or girl.
Mostly Ali would be a nick name for a girl and a full name for a boy.
Boys would have the nick name AL.

I think it depends on your local community.
In leafy south-east where I am, I would assume female (probably shortened Alison if over 30, Alicia if under 30), but if you were in a place with a lot of Arabic communities then they may assume boy.
Nothing wrong with a unisex name though

I know both males and females called Ali. Either short for Alison, or Alistair or similar. Works for both sexes imo.

I did not want to vote. I agree with many of the previous posters here.
Ali is a name for both boys and girls.
It can also be a nickname for both boys and girls.

Don't worry about it.

I personally wouldn't assume either, plus there are plenty of names that can be either.
Jordan, Bailey, Remi, Ashley, Alex, Charlie, Reese, Blake...

Lindsey and Stacey can also be masculine, along with some other names, but these two in particular I'd assume female.

As an Alison, called Ali by friends and Al by family, I would get extremely frustrated if anyone tried to stick extra letters into the shortened version of my name.

I imagine that most of those replying are much younger & not in their late 40s or 50s, when Alison, Clare, Karen, Debbie and Sarah featured in every class register.

If I saw Ali written down, I would assume it was a boy's name but if I heard it being shouted, I wouldn't make an assumption as it could be a shortening of a girl's name such as Alice or Alison (or possibly Alexandra, although I'm more used to that being shortened to Alex or Lexie).

Either. There are some well known female Ali's such as Ali MacGraw as mentioned above or Ali Smith the novelist. As a standalone name, more of a boy's name but I wouldn't assume either way.