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Original poster

Which way would you spell Alistair?

41 replies

Cammy007 · 29/06/2016 10:59

Alistair or Alastair? Would you pronounce these spellings differently?

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Bluetang · 20/08/2016 20:33

Alistair!

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 20/08/2016 20:27

Scottish BIL spells it Alastair.
Alistair always looks wrong to me.

CakeRattleandRoll · 20/08/2016 16:56

Great name, but I would use Alasdair spelling.

MrsGsnow18 · 20/08/2016 11:46

Alastair would prob be what I would write down if someone told me their name. ( well I'd prob ask to check actually)
But I would pronounce them all the same.

Ham69 · 20/08/2016 09:08

Alistair. Love it!

Hackedabove · 20/08/2016 07:41

I did realise a few years ago how similar it sounds to Alice, which is a girls name I love...

Hackedabove · 20/08/2016 07:36

I didn't realise when I named my DS2 how many different ways there were to spell it. I have to make sure MIL knew because at first she was getting it wrong. Some relatives still spell it wrong 8 years on...

Alistair is best IMO, was the way my brothers childhood friend spelt it so for me looks right.

The only thing I don't like is when people pronounce the 'air', sounds pretentious to me. We pronounce the end 'er'.

Yika · 02/07/2016 22:01

Alistair. I love this name.

OvariesForgotHerPassword · 02/07/2016 16:39

Alastair

Winterbiscuit · 02/07/2016 16:37

Alistair, so that it doesn't start with "alas"!

DontDeadOpenInside · 02/07/2016 13:09

I have an Allister in my family.

YouAndMeAreGoingToFallOut · 02/07/2016 13:01

My newborn DD was going to be Alasdair if she'd been a boy. I'm Scottish and we live in Scotland. DH is English. We'd originally planned to go for Alistair as we thought the more Anglicised spelling would be easier for all our friends and relatives not in Scotland, but when I thought about it I realised that I don't pronounce them identically, and preferred the Alasdair variant. Moot point in the end though!

weebarra · 02/07/2016 12:57

My wonderful DS2 is an Alasdair. We're Scottish. There are lots of variations, true, but many names have variations. He doesn't mind and people tend to ask "with a d or a t?"

CaptainWarbeck · 02/07/2016 12:47

I love this name. I'd use Alasdair. Looks good and solid.

EmmaWoodlouse · 02/07/2016 12:42

I prefer Alistair as it's the first version I ever came across (someone I knew when I was about 5) and also the closest to how I pronounce it.

WankersHacksandThieves · 30/06/2016 14:04

We used Alastair (middle name for DS2) as DH thinks it sounds wet with the "d". We are Scottish, we also have an Alister in the family.

LadyAntonella · 30/06/2016 12:31

I'm not sure I do like the name tbh. It makes me think of cauliflower. Just me?

DramaAlpaca · 30/06/2016 11:15

It's one of those names where the more I look at it the more confused I get about which spelling looks right, and I end up thinking none of them do Confused

That said, I really love the sound of the name.

If I was writing it down & didn't know how the person whose name it was spelled it, I think my instinct would be to go for Alistair.

If the person was Scottish I'd go for Alasdair.

I would pronounce all versions the same.

TondelayaDellaVentamiglia · 30/06/2016 11:12

and you have to say it like Billy Connolly.... al-us-DARE....d-a-i-r.......Alasdair

see the "has nobody got any fucking first names" skit.

florascotianew · 30/06/2016 11:07

Alasdair is the Scottish equivalent of Alexander (as, for example, Seamas is for James).

As Sgoinneal said earlier in this thread, Alasdair is the original spelling. The pronounciation is here: forvo.com/search/Alasdair/gd/

In some parts of Scotland where Gaelic is spoken, 't' and 'd' sound very similar - or, at least, not the same as they would in English south of the Border. Another example: the Scottish Gaelic for hospital is 'ospadal'.

Gummibaers · 30/06/2016 10:54

I would choose another name that has an obvious well recognised spelling. Otherwise he'll have a lifetime of correcting people.

bluebloom · 30/06/2016 10:29

Alister looks like A-lister to me. I like Alasdair best. Lovely name.

nectarini1983 · 30/06/2016 10:26

I wouldn't use a name with so many spelling options!

peggyundercrackers · 30/06/2016 09:28

Alistair and Alasdair are pronounced differently, ive got friends who are called each spelling and they pronounce their names differently. the one called Alasdair pronounces the D instead of the T as in the other spelling.

Heatherbell1978 · 30/06/2016 09:22

There are 4 spellings I think. My brother is Alistair (he's Scottish but that's the Anglo cersiob), my DS' middle name is Alasdair which is the Scottish version. They're pronounced differently slightly as well.