Alistair - Meaning of Alistair

What does Alistair mean?

Pronounce
Alistair

[ 3 syll. a-lis-tai(r), al-ista-ir ] The baby boy name Alistair is pronounced as AEL-ihS-Teh-R †. Alistair is used chiefly in the English and Scottish languages, and it is derived from Old Greek origins. The name is Anglicized from the Gaelic Alasdair, itself a Scottish form of Alexander, a popular name in Scotland. It was adopted by the Lowland Scots by the 17th century, and spread beyond Scotland and Ireland by the 19th century. The form Allaster was popularized in the 19th century when it appeared as the name of a minstrel in Sir Walter Scott's novel Rob Roy (1817).

Alistair is a variant of the name Alexander (Dutch, English, German, Hungarian, and Slavic) in the English language.

The name Alastrina (Irish, Scottish, and Spanish) is the female form of Alistair.

Alistair has 18 variants that are used in English and other languages. Variants used in English include Al, Alaster (also used in Scottish), Alastor, Alisdair (also used in Scottish), Alistar, Alister (also used in Scottish), Allaster (also used in Scottish), Allistair, Allistar, Alstair, and Alystair. Other English forms include the pet form Aly (also used in Scottish), and the variant spellings Alastair (also used in Scottish), Aleister, Alistaire, and Allister. Alasdair (Scottish) and Alastar (Irish) are foreign variants of Alistair.

Variant forms share the origin and thus the meaning of Alistair.

See also the related categories, english, sir, greek, and anglicized.

Alistair is rare as a baby name for boys. At the modest peak of its usage in 2016, 0.012% of baby boys were given the name Alistair. Its ranking then was #874. The baby name has since dropped out of favor, and is today of infrequent use. In 2018, out of the group of boy names directly linked to Alistair, Alexander was the most widely used.

Baby names that sound like Alistair include Alistaire, Allistair, Alystair, Alasdair, Alastair, Alastar, Alaster, Alisdair, Alistar, Alister, Allistar, Allister, Alexandor, and Alstair.

† Pronunciation for Alistair: AE as in "at (AE.T)" ; L as in "lay (L.EY)" ; IH as in "it (IH.T)" ; S as in "see (S.IY)" ; T as in "tee (T.IY)" ; EH as in "ebb (EH.B)" ; R as in "race (R.EY.S)"

Details of famous persons named Alistair:
Author Alistair MacLean, born Alistair Stuart MacLean, 28 April 1922 - 2 February 1987, Glasgow, Scotland.
Journalist Alistair Cooke, born Alfred Cooke, 20 November 1908 - 30 March 2004, Salford, Lancashire, England.