Ali (name)

Pronunciation	Arabic: [ʕaˈliː] (no glottal stop) Persian: [ʔæ'liː] Finnish: [ɑli]
Gender	Unisex
Language(s)	Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Urdu, Finnish, others
Meaning	High, exalted, noble (Islamic); various diminuitives (other languages)
Variant form(s)	Aly, Alli, Alley, Allie, Ally

Ali (Arabic: علي‎‎, ʿAlī) is a male Arabic name derived from the Arabic root ʕ-l-w, which literally means "high" or "elevated". It is a common name in Arab countries and the rest of the Muslim world. Islamic traditional use of the name goes back to the Islamic leader Ali ibn Abi Talib but the name 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.

The name Ali also arises in other traditions. Among English-speakers as short for male and female names starting with "Al-", or the Old Norse man's name Áli. It can also be an English nickname, as a shortened form of Alice, Alison, Alistair, or Alexander and Alexandra.

Ali is also a Finnish male given name, derived from Aleksanteri.

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