Alistair (or other spellings) ... opinions?

VesperLove · August 2015

So DH and I were running through names last night as we were going to sleep and we started pulling out totally random names we likely wouldn't even consider.

Then DH said "Allister" and I shunned it ... but on my way to work this morning it came back to me as one I found interesting.

I did some research this morning and found that it is of Scottish/Greek origin (my heritage), means defender of mankind and has a few other spellings:

Alistair

Alastair

Alasdair

I'm not sure I'm sold on that as an option but it's intriguing to me. Thought I'd throw it on the board for some candid opinions.

Have at it ladies

wassuphoes · August 2015

I personally love it.

Alasdair is the original, my favorite of the variants (and what I would use if we decided on it) is Alistair.

bbiutmcph · August 2015

I like it and prefer Alistair and believe it would be the way most would automatically spell it.

Squirtgun · August 2015

Would that be pronounced like "Alastor"? (Professor Moody in Harry Potter)
The three spellings just seem like they would have different pronunciations, so I'd go with the one that looks most like it sounds.

VesperLove · August 2015

Alastor would be pronounced with an "or" ending ... the rest, according to pronunciation websites are all an "er" sounding ending. But I do think there would be a little variation with how people pronounce it since it isn't a popular name that people hear all the time. That's one of the reasons I'm not totally sold on it.

kerismatic · August 2015

I'm not a fan of the name at all, sorry. I think you should continue to shun it.

CaboBride2015 · August 2015

keri0517 said:
I'm not a fan of the name at all, sorry. I think you should continue to shun it.

Ditto. Seems very over the top.

erinnlou · August 2015

I like this name a lot. I prefer the Alistair spelling.

CGless · August 2015

Alastair was on my short List. I love it.

Everycol0r · August 2015

Hm, I have a cousin named Allister & he's a toot.

But I do like Alastair & my phone doesn't try to autocorrect it like Allister.

eliztheforrizz · August 2015

It feels a little pretentious to me. If you use it, I would go with the Alistair spelling. That is least likely to be misspelled.

LC122 · August 2015

This is on our list. I first heard it as a child watching "You Can't Do That on Television" on Nickelodeon. Google tells me that actor spelled it Alasdair.
Then I knew a guy in college with the name.

Alastair is Scottish and Alistair is English. We have a Scottish last name but DH imagines it as being spelled the English way.

I have never known anyone with this name to be nicknamed Al, but that is my concern as I apparently have an issue with nicknames.

janelleashu · August 2015

I associate this name with pretentiousness and ignorance. Kind of like a name like Chandler. It's cool sounding but I couldn't get past the negative, snooty association.

Linsbins · August 2015

I would just hope a kid wouldn't get called Alice as a nn. A few years of that could hurt a kid's self-esteem. What do you think about nn? Honestly I think it's the only downside. It's a real name and most people would be able to pronounce it correctly.

LC122 · August 2015

janelleashu said:
I associate this name with pretentiousness and ignorance. Kind of like a name like Chandler. It's cool sounding but I couldn't get past the negative, snooty association.

Sounds like a personal problem.

Linsbins · August 2015

LC122 said:

janelleashu said:
I associate this name with pretentiousness and ignorance. Kind of like a name like Chandler. It's cool sounding but I couldn't get past the negative, snooty association.
Sounds like a personal problem.

Eh. I disagree. We are all just giving our own opinions, and there are others out there that will probably feel the same way. I think of upper class white people with this name. That's not necessarily a bad thing. OP deserves to hear all the opinions so she can make an informed decision. PP wasn't rude.

janelleashu · August 2015

Nah, it's a connotation, like many people seem to identify with names that are spelled certain ways or are of certain popularity. Or are associated with Disney or something. An association or connotation isn't a personal thing or problem, it's societal.

VesperLove · August 2015

Thanks, ladies. Enjoying the commentary. I'm not sure this name will even make it to our short list but you're comments are definitely helpful! I'll be passing some on to my DH tonight.

kajaguru · August 2015

I love the name Alastair. It was one of my top picks. I am from the Caribbean and it's quite a bit more popular there than in the USA. They use "Alastair" as the common spelling.

CaboBride2015 · August 2015

I think it's a little over the top, pretentious, whatever you want to call it. I feel like if I heard someone call their child that in the grocery or something I'd probably roll my eyes and feel bad for the kid. If you live in an area where it's more common, I'll take pp's word on the Caribbean, maybe that's a different story.

Alistair (or other spellings) ... opinions?

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