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Allister

#2,994 in 2025Boys' name

To defend + man, through Alexander

Allister has been given to 1,256 babies in the U.S. since 1925. In 2025 it ranked #2,994 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2022, with 76 recorded.

Babies named Allister, 2025

1 in 80,900

Allister over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
02040608018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Allister: meaning, origin, and history

To defend + man, through Alexander

Scottish Gaelic

What Allister means

Allister belongs to the name family reached through Allister → Alexander. Its meaning is “to defend + man”.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

Anglicized from Alasdair, the Scottish Gaelic form of Alexander

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

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

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

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Alexander.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Allister is pronounced /ˈælɪstɚ/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,250 boys were recorded with the name Allister between 1925 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 76 in 2022; its best national rank was #1,999 in 2021.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #2,190 in 2020 to #2,994 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #2,643 in 2015 to #2,994 in 2025.

In the United States, 6 girls were recorded with the name Allister between 2014 and 2014. Its highest annual count was 6 in 2014; its best national rank was #14,687 in 2014.

How common is Allister?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 80,900
41 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 41,700
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#2,994
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
56,047 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Allister 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 56,047 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Allister. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Allisters were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Allister was born before 2015 — so the typical Allister is around 10 today.

Median birth year
2015
About 10 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
35.8% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
76.4%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
1,229
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 35.8% of all recorded uses (447).

Is Allister 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
−399
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−804
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−351
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.89×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
53.9%
Peak was 2022 (76)
Years since peak
3
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
19.2% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,999
2021

Spellings of Allister

Allister is not the most common spelling — Alister is, with 46.6% against Allister's 35.1%.

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.

Where Allister is used

Across 2016–2025, Allister was most concentrated in Kansas — about 1 in 25,000 boys, against 1 in 75,288 across all states with data. It was least common in Washington (1 in 100,000).

14 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Kansas1 in 25,000
  2. 2Arizona1 in 50,000
  3. 3Georgia1 in 50,000
  4. 4Ohio1 in 50,000
  5. 5California1 in 100,000
  6. 6Florida1 in 100,000
  7. 7North Carolina1 in 100,000
  8. 8New York1 in 100,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Allister around the world

Where Allister 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
    1996–2024
    #5,120
    in 2024
  • Scotland
    1974–2013
    #687
    in 2013
  • Northern Ireland
    1998–2005
    #307
    in 2005
  • France
    1988–2009
    #5,675
    in 2009
  • Canada
    1991–2024
    #2,550
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1958–1998
    #534
    in 1998

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS, NISRA data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Allister by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#2,994
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 804
Best rank ever
#1,999
2021
Peak year
2022
76 that year
First recorded
1925
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
1,250
Count in 2025
41

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#14,687
2014
Peak year
2014
6 that year
First recorded
2014
Last recorded
2014
All-time count
6
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Allister

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

AllanteAllisonAleisterAlisterCoulterJupiterKharterLevesterWinterPieterCutterKolterMisterWebsterSilvesterAllistairSlaterAlvesterKutterSutterJeterMasterBrewsterSlayter

Sibling names for Allister

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 Allister

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