A LITTLE UNCOMMON. ENTIRELY YOURS.
Meaning, origin and pronunciation, with published usage by place and year.
Checking your saved choices…
Share this name or preview its baby card in Discover.
Defender of men, through the Alexander name family.
The exact etymology documents Scottish Gaelic Alasdair through Norman Alexandre or Latin Alexander to Ancient Greek defend plus man elements. Each spelling and language tradition remains distinct.
Scottish Gaelic Alexander form, through Norman or Latin transmission, with Ancient Greek ancestry.
The exact etymology documents Alasdair, Alexandre or Alexander, and the Greek parent. Scottish describes part of the transmission history rather than the entire linguistic derivation.
/ˈæl.ɪ.stɚ/
General American English. British English commonly omits the final r sound.
Recorded English reading, as published. Accents and preferred pronunciations can differ.
Counts apply only to the exact spelling, place, year and recorded usage shown. Places are separate; these figures are never added into a worldwide total. Missing or suppressed records never mean zero.
| Place | Year | Recorded usage | Published births | Rank | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | 2025 | Boys | 47 · preliminary | 614 | 2025 figures are preliminary. Quebec counts below five are randomly imputed by the publisher before national aggregation. Accents are removed in the source; this profile was matched only where the catalog spelling was unambiguous. Unpublished values are unknown, not zero. Rank basis: source published. |
| France | 2025 | Boys | 25 (rounded to 5) | 1390 | Counts are rounded to the nearest multiple of five. Ranks use unrounded publisher counts with randomly ordered ties; equally rounded counts can have different ranks. National coverage excludes Mayotte before 2012. Missing years are unavailable, not zero. Automated direction labels are withheld for this rounded-count series. Rank basis: source published. |
| England & Wales | 2025 | Boys | 75 | 517 | Source-reported counts; unpublished names are not zero. Rank basis: source published. |
| Northern Ireland | 2019 | Boys | 4 | 365 | Source-reported counts; unpublished names are not zero. Rank basis: source published. |
| Scotland | 2025 | Boys | 12 | 298 | Source-reported counts; unpublished names are not zero. Rank basis: source published. |
| Ireland | 2025 | Boys | 6 | 509 | Names below three occurrences are unpublished. Accent recording changed in 2018; comparisons across that boundary may not describe the same spelling coverage. Counts refer to registrations in the year. Missing years are unavailable, not zero. Rank basis: source published. |
| United States | 2025 | Boys | 265 | 897 | Source-reported counts; unpublished names are not zero. Rank basis: calculated from published counts. |
Canada, Ireland and France coverage includes confidently matched existing profiles only; unmatched spellings are awaiting review. French counts are rounded to five.
Open an entry for its source, credit, licence and full qualifications. Different name traditions remain separate.
Checked against cited source
The exact etymology documents Scottish Gaelic Alasdair through Norman Alexandre or Latin Alexander to Ancient Greek defend plus man elements. Each spelling and language tradition remains distinct. Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted and condensed by Rare Baby Names; CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). No source audio reused.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Checked against cited source
Nickname option: Ali can be used for Alistair. The source documents this English diminutive tradition separately from Arabic Ali. Popularity counts remain separate. Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Source: https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Ali&oldid=93016474. License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Adaptation: Rare Baby Names presents a reviewed reverse link from the documented short-form entry, retaining language, rare-use and uncertainty qualifications. No source audio reused.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Checked against cited source
The exact etymology documents Alasdair, Alexandre or Alexander, and the Greek parent. Scottish describes part of the transmission history rather than the entire linguistic derivation. Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted and condensed by Rare Baby Names; CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). No source audio reused.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Checked against cited source
General American English. British English commonly omits the final r sound.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Checked against cited source
The exact English Alistair entry identifies Scottish Gaelic Alasdair as its source form. This is a documented name-family relationship; it does not imply identical pronunciation or pooled birth statistics. Credit: Wiktionary contributors. CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Rare Baby Names condensed the explicit formation chain and separated related-name history from interchangeable spellings; no source audio reused.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Checked against cited source
The exact Alistair entry traces Scottish Gaelic Alasdair through Norman Alexandre or Latin Alexander to Ancient Greek. This records a historical name-family connection, not a claim that Alexander is a nickname or interchangeable spelling of Alistair. Credit: Wiktionary contributors. CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Rare Baby Names condensed the explicit formation chain and separated related-name history from interchangeable spellings; no source audio reused.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
View statistics source (link unavailable)
View statistics source (link unavailable)
View statistics source (link unavailable)
Attribution: Source: NISRA : Website: www.nisra.gov.uk
License: Open Government Licence v3.0
Attribution: (C) Crown copyright. Data supplied by National Records of Scotland.
License: Open Government Licence v3.0
Attribution: Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence
License: Open Government Licence v3.0
Attribution: U.S. Social Security Administration
Credit: Statistics Canada, Table 17-10-0147-01, 1991–2025, released 23 September 2026.
License: Statistics Canada Open Licence
Adaptation: Adapted from Statistics Canada, First names at birth by sex at birth, selected indicators, Table 17-10-0147-01, reference years 1991–2025. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.
Credit: Central Statistics Office, Ireland, VSA50 and VSA60, updated 27 February 2026.
License: CC BY 4.0
Adaptation: Adapted by Rare Baby Names: joined the published count and rank indicators and matched unambiguous existing spellings. Source values retained.
Credit: Source : Insee, Fichier des prénoms, updated 16 July 2026.
License: Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab)
Adaptation: Adapted by Rare Baby Names: column names and sex codes mapped and unique case-only spellings matched to existing profiles. Published rounded counts and ranks retained.
