boy's name

Alistair

  • Gender Boy
  • Syllables 3
  • Letters 8
  • Popularity Top 1000 (US)
  • Births on record 13,492

the United States

#898

2025 births

Alistair is a boy's name with 3 syllables. In 2025 it was given to 265 babies in the United States, ranking #898. It is a well-established, commonly used name.

  • Peaked in 2025, when 265 babies were given the name.
  • It has been rising over the past decade.
  • Today about 1 in 12,511 babies in the United States is given this name.
  • First appears in US birth records in 1956.
  • 3 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.

Alistair over time

Births per decade in the United States, 1950s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.

1,722
'50 '60 '70 '80 '90 '00 '10 '20
Show the numbers
Births named Alistair by decade in the United States
Decade Births
1950s 7
1960s 11
1970s 96
1980s 112
1990s 190
2000s 449
2010s 1,722
2020s (to 2025) 1,501

How popular is Alistair?

In 2025, Alistair was given to 265 babies in the United States, ranking #898 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.

Where Alistair is used

Scotland #252 16 in 2024
Northern Ireland #382 4 in 2019
England & Wales #519 75 in 2025
Ireland #532 6 in 2025
Canada #864 30 in 2024
United States #898 265 in 2025
France #1,341 25 in 2025

The bar shows how near the top of each country's list the name sits, on a scale where #1 fills the row and #1,000 is a sliver. The figures beside it are the real rank and the babies recorded that year.

US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.

Names that peaked alongside Alistair

These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.

Parents who like Alistair also like

Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Alistair over the last century — the same taste, a different name.

Sibling names for Alistair

Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Alistair — the two things that make a sibling set grate.

Common questions about Alistair

How popular is the name Alistair?

In 2025, Alistair was given to 265 babies in the United States, ranking #898 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.

Is Alistair a girl's or a boy's name?

Alistair is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.

How many syllables are in Alistair?

Alistair has 3 syllables.

When was Alistair most popular?

Alistair peaked in 2025, when 265 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.

Is Alistair a good name?

That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Alistair currently ranks #252 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.