Alistair

[thepressureofaname]

We've found out that we are having a boy, so the debating of girl's names can finally end.
Hooray I thought, we still have a boy's name that we love from last time. But now I'm having a wobble.
Alistair- what are people's thoughts please?
I like that it's a well known name but not too popular. The various alternative spellings don't bother me.
If you have an Alistair, does he always get his full name, or do people shorten it to Al, Ali, Ally?
Does it sound ok as a brother for Clara?
Thanks!

I like it. But every one I’ve ever met gets Ally (I also like that mind you but something for you to think about if you don’t like it).

I love Alasdair.

Top of my list but Not a fan of the nicknames...

I like it but his school friends will shorten it

It sounds good with Clara. I like that it’s not a popular name but it’s also a classic name. Although, I personally find it a bit pretentious and kind of posh try-hard (sorry). He’ll inevitably become Ali at school.

My friend has an Alistair. It's a nice name, he's Al and Ally interchangeably (age 5). Its nice and not too common!

I know an Alistair (23) and he gets called Ali.
I really like it

I know 3 - one does get Alastair, one gets Ali and the other Al.

We were going to name dd1 Alastair if she was a boy, for the same reasons as you OP. I would have been trying to make the nickname Al stick!

Love it

BringMeCoffeePlease interesting that you say it's posh. I really like the name but my Scottish OH also thinks it's posh which I have never been able to understand. Do you mind saying (approximately) where you're from?

I like it, with nickname Al.

I like it too. The nn are fine as well.

My brother is called Alisdair and it's a great name...just beware of the 11 different spellings if you have an unusual surname. Ours goes by Ali for this reason.

I like it. Prefer the Alastair spelling though.

I love all the Alistair names. Personally I like Alasdair best, never think of it as posh but it is a family name for us and our family is not posh.

I have one and he is called his full name by friends & family. I expect someone might shorten it when he is older, but currently nobody does and he is 6. I have known it shortened to Al, Ally and Sandy (a slightly random one there).

I love it.

Do prefer the spellings Alastair and Alasdair though.

I know a fabulous Alistair. He's usually called by his full name as an adult but when he was very young he was universally known as Pally (which stemmed from his mum calling him Alistair Pallister as a nickname).

Great name.

I quite like it and like the nickname Ali

Ooh lovely comments, thanks.
The posh comment is interesting - we certainly aren't, and I don't think of it that way.
As for spellings, the 'd' versions are nice, but we're English, so the 't' versions feel more natural. Then the decision is for an 'i' or an 'a' - 'i' is more popular, so possibly less likely to get spelled incorrectly? Plus feels more natural to shorten to Ali.

Go for the Gaelic spelling Alasdair.....:-)

Love it!! Mine is 7 and nobody apart from me ever shortens his name. SO many different spellings for it- I'm a Gaelic speaker so went for Alasdair.

My brother’s godson is Alistair. The family isn’t posh at all. He’s a lovely little boy.

I love the name Alistair, I know one (adult). He is always called Alistair by close family, some friends call him Al.

I prefer the proper Gaelic spelling (Alasdair) over the anglicised version. It was top of my list for DS big DH vetoed ot.