Ally is a short form of Allison, Alexandra and Alice, and it is also the English word for a "friend" or "supporter". Through Alice it can be traced to the Germanic Adalheidis, "noble kind". The TV lawyer Ally McBeal gave the name a boost around the turn of the century. In the United States Ally ranked number 605 in 2000, peaked at number 582 in 2002 and has slowly declined to number 2118 among girls' names in 2025.