Ali (name)

Ali (, "") is a male Arabic name derived from the Arabic root ʕ-l-w, which literally means "high", "elevated" or "champion". Islamic traditional use of the name goes back to the Islamic leader Ali ibn Abi Talib but the name is also present among some pre-Islamic Arabs (e.g. Banu Hanifa, some rulers of Saba and Himyar) and identical in form and meaning to the , "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-" such as Alice, Alison, Alisha, Alistair, Alexander, or Alexandra. In Old Norse, Áli and Åle are alternate forms of Onela. Ali is also a Finnish male given name, derived from "Aleksanteri".
Ali also as a last name has become very popular on a global scale due to the spread of Islamic culture throughout the globe. This is especially so in the Caribbean where indentured labourers from South Asia were brought to replace African slave labour at the end of slavery in countries such as Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.