Allison

A1L1L1I1S1O1N1
/ˈælɪsən/

proper noun

A surname originating as a patronymic.

CommonScrabble 7

Meanings

proper nounAllison (countable and uncountable, plural Allisons)

plural Allisons · alternative Alison · alternative Alyson · alternative Allyson

  1. countableA surname originating as a patronymic.

    While Rapinoe has acknowledged her white privilege, said Allison, the sociology professor, she received outsize attention for her racial activism without experiencing the harsh consequences that Black athletes historically receive for protests.

    2023 August 6, Jeré Longman, “For Megan Rapinoe, an Ending Not Even She Could Have Imagined”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 17 Aug 2023
    1 more example

    To that end, prosecutors allege that Allison and Humber pushed their followers to attack minority communities, government infrastructure, politicians, government officials and the leaders of private companies – some of whom, including a US senator and a federal judge, were included in a detailed list of “high value targets” for assassination.

    2024 September 9, Hannah Rabinowitz, “Alleged leaders of White supremacist group charged in effort to encourage terrorism and hate crimes”, in CNN
  2. countableA male given name transferred from the surname, of mostly before 1950 usage.

    "Allison?" Surely that was a girl's name. "It's after Davey Allison, the race car driver. He got killed right before the baby was born. Tracy and me wanted to honor his memory." It was a precise little speech. She must have explained the name many times.

    1994, Sharyn McCrumb, She Walks These Hills, Scribner's, →ISBN, page 81
  3. countableA female given name from the Germanic languages, of 1940s and later usage, variant of Alison.

    Allison MacKenzie's father, for whom the child had been named, died when she was three years old.

    1956, Grace Metalious, Peyton Place, UPNE, published 1999, →ISBN, Book One, Chapter 4
    1 more example

    Judge Allison Burroughs agreed with Harvard’s arguments that the administration imposed the funding freeze in retaliation for the Ivy League university’s refusal to capitulate to demands for reforms that violated First Amendment protections under the Constitution.

    2025 September 3, Dan Mangan, “Judge voids $2.2 billion Harvard funding freeze by Trump administration”, in CNBC
  4. countableuncountableA community in Moncton Parish, Westmorland County, New Brunswick, Canada.
  5. A number of places in the United States:
    1. countableuncountableA township in Lawrence County, Illinois.
    2. countableuncountableA small city, the county seat of Butler County, Iowa.
    3. countableuncountableA township in Decatur County, Kansas.
    4. countableuncountableA township in Clinton County, Pennsylvania.
    5. countableuncountableA township in Brown County, South Dakota.
    6. countableuncountableA census-designated place in Wheeler County, Texas.

Origin

From a Middle English diminutive form of Alan, Alexander or Alice + -son.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Sounds the same

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

Allison. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Allison

MLA

“Allison.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Allison. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Allison,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Allison.

Source: Allison on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.