Passion fruit-flavored liqueur Alizé Gold Passion was introduced to the U.S. market in 1986.
The next year, the name Alize debuted in the U.S. baby name data, though it remained rare.
- 1990: unlisted
- 1989: 6 baby girls named Alize
- 1988: unlisted
- 1987: 5 baby girls named Alize [debut]
- 1986: unlisted
- 1985: unlisted
Usage of the name Alize picked up steam during the early 1990s, but it wasn’t until 1995 that the numbers really started climbing — increasing nearly sixfold for girls, and debuting impressively for boys:
| Girls named Alize | Boys named Alize | |
| 1997 | 274 [rank: 767th] | 53 |
| 1996 | 282 [rank: 749th] | 44 |
| 1995 | 143 | 30* |
| 1994 | 24 | . |
| 1993 | 12 | . |
Why?
A huge pop-culture push in the mid-1990s that popularized both the liqueur and the baby name.
Back when I first published this post in 2012, the Alizé website included the following explanation:
Alizé reached great heights with substantial features in music lyrics and videos. Alizé was mentioned in 30 top 10 singles from artists such as 2Pac, Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z & Queen Latifah.
Specifically, Alizé was mentioned by Tupac Shakur in “Thug Passion” (1996), by Notorious B.I.G. in “Juicy” (1994), by Jay-Z in “Can I Get A…” (1998), and by Queen Latifah in a popular remix of Brandy’s “I Wanna Be Down” (1994-ish).
The brand name Alizé comes from the French word alizé, the name of a local trade wind.
What are your thoughts on Alize as a personal name??
P.S. The baby name Adidas has a similar explanation: urban music popularizing a brand name as a baby name.
[Latest update: July 2022]
I know a drag queen who goes by Alize. True story.
I’m from Texas and I worked at a daycare during college and there was a little girl named Alize…