Alistair

What Alistair means

Means “to defend + man”

From Scottish Gaelic Alasdair, from Norman Alexandre or Latin Alexander, from Ancient Greek Ἀλέξανδρος (Aléxandros), from ἀλέξω (aléxō, “to defend”) + ἀνδρ- (andr-), the stem of ἀνήρ (anḗr, “man”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Alistair” (revision 90783110), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Alistair?

US: Rising: up from #1023 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #404 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2025, when 265 boys got the name (#897 that year). First in the US records in 1956.

How common

• About 1 in 6,446 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 3,626 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 1,637 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in CO (0.37 per 1,000 boys), MO (0.36 per 1,000 boys), OK (0.28 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Alistair is #897 in the US and #517 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Alistair were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Alister97 US · 8 E&W
• Alastair67 US · 25 E&W
• Alasdair28 US · 15 E&W
• Alistar12 US
• Allistair6 US
• Alastar5 US
• Alistor5 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Alistair

Boys

• Rhys#410Welsh, from Old Welsh Ris, meaning “ardor, fiery warrior”^*
• Idris#694Editor’s note More popular in England & Wales than the US: #142 vs #694 in 2025
• Rowan#59“little red one”^*
• Killian#417Editor’s note Down from #349 in 2015 to #417 in 2025 in the US
• Ellis#243“benevolent, kind”^*
• Callum#118Variant of Calum, meaning “dove”^*

For a sister

• Ellis#682“benevolent, kind”^*
• Nola#821Editor’s note Down from #769 in 2015 to #821 in 2025 in the US
• Gwendolyn#360Variant of Gwendolen, meaning “white, fair, blessed + ring, bow…^*
• Gwen#725Same root as Wendy, meaning “watercourse with a bend + island”^*
• Guinevere#898Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #898 vs #2,788 in 2025
• Rory#230“red-haired king”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Irish & Celtic, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Alistair’s. Rank is US 2025.