# Alistair (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/alistair/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | Scottish Gaelic |
| Meaning | “to defend”, “man” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈæl.ɪ.stɚ/, 3 syllables |
| Nicknames | Ali |
| Variant spellings | Alaster |
| US babies named this | 4,088 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 4,088 / 0 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 3,600, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

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”).

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 108 | 1,495 |
| 2012 | 126 | 1,346 |
| 2013 | 132 | 1,306 |
| 2014 | 179 | 1,080 |
| 2015 | 198 | 1,023 |
| 2016 | 247 | 885 |
| 2017 | 225 | 929 |
| 2018 | 205 | 1,009 |
| 2019 | 221 | 968 |
| 2020 | 226 | 961 |
| 2021 | 255 | 902 |
| 2022 | 248 | 929 |
| 2023 | 250 | 921 |
| 2024 | 257 | 909 |
| 2025 | 265 | 897 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 100 | 392 |
| 2012 | 100 | 405 |
| 2013 | 103 | 396 |
| 2014 | 105 | 391 |
| 2015 | 104 | 404 |
| 2016 | 106 | 404 |
| 2017 | 110 | 400 |
| 2018 | 86 | 471 |
| 2019 | 88 | 459 |
| 2020 | 85 | 464 |
| 2021 | 64 | 592 |
| 2022 | 78 | 500 |
| 2023 | 68 | 556 |
| 2024 | 70 | 545 |
| 2025 | 75 | 517 |

## In other languages

- Arabic: آلِيسْتَر
- Armenian: Ալիստեր
- Bulgarian: Алистър
- Chinese: 阿萊斯特 /阿莱斯特
- French: Alistair
- Georgian: ალისტერ
- Greek: Άλιστερ
- Hebrew: אליסטר
- Irish: Alastar
- Japanese: アリステア
- Korean: 알레이스터
- Latvian: Alisters
- Lithuanian: Alisteris
- Russian: А́листер
- Scottish Gaelic: Alasdair
- Ukrainian: А́лістер

## People named Alistair

- Alistair Johnston, Canadian soccer player
- Alistair Darling, British Labour Party politician (1953–2023)
- Alistair Overeem, Dutch mixed martial artist and kickboxer
- Alistair Brownlee, British triathlete
- Alistair Petrie, British actor
- Alistair MacLeod, Canadian author and professor of English (1936–2014)
- Alistair Cooke, British journalist and broadcaster (1908-2004)
- Alistair Horne, British writer and historian (1925-2017)
- Alistair Cameron Crombie, Australian zoologist, historian of science (1915-1996)
- Alistair Donohue, Australian Para-cyclist
- Alistair Cockburn, American computer programmer
- Alistair Casey, badminton player

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.