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Allistair

#10,753 in 2025Boys' name

To defend, through Alasdair

Allistair has been given to 90 babies in the U.S. since 2006. In 2025 it ranked #10,753 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2019, with 11 recorded.

Babies named Allistair, 2025

1 in 553,000

Allistair over time, 1880–2025

Boys
05101518801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Allistair: meaning, origin, and history

To defend, through Alasdair

Scottish Gaelic

What Allistair means

Allistair belongs to the name family reached through Allistair → Alasdair. Its meaning is “to defend”.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From Scottish Gaelic Alasdair (“Alexander”). A rare spelling of Alistair.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Allistair (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Allistair is used in English. Its origins include Scottish Gaelic.

Allistair comes through Scottish Gaelic Alasdair.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Alasdair.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 90 boys were recorded with the name Allistair between 2006 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 11 in 2019; its best national rank was #7,194 in 2019.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #10,656 in 2020 to #10,753 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #8,773 in 2015 to #10,753 in 2025.

How common is Allistair?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 553,000
6 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 285,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#10,753
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
382,984 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Allistair sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 382,984 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Allistair. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Allistairs were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Allistair was born before 2018 — so the typical Allistair is around 7 today.

Median birth year
2018
About 7 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
57.8% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
100.0%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
90
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 57.8% of all recorded uses (52).

Is Allistair rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
—
Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago
−97
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−1,980
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.75×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
54.5%
Peak was 2019 (11)
Years since peak
6
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
26.1% average annual change
Best rank ever
#7,194
2019

Spellings of Allistair

Allistair is not the most common spelling — Alistair is, with 60.2% against Allistair's 1.3%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Allistair around the world

Where Allistair ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1997–1997
    #2,859
    in 1997
  • Scotland
    1986–1993
    #378
    in 1993
  • France
    2006–2020
    #6,006
    in 2020
  • Canada
    2022–2022
    #2,959
    in 2022

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques and Statistics Canada. ONS, NRS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Allistair by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#10,753
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 97
Best rank ever
#7,194
2019
Peak year
2019
11 that year
First recorded
2006
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
90
Count in 2025
6

Names similar to Allistair

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

AlliasAllanteSaintclairAllisterAllijahNirvairNazairAllenmichaelZahairAllahAlasdairJahairKhyairAllexanderJamairKaiyairZhyairAllysonTyairOzairIsairMyairAllardAltair

Sibling names for Allistair

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Allistair

Top names of 2019, Allistair's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 2019Boys' names starting with A