Masterpiece Generator Name Generator
How popular is the name Alister?
Births per year, rank history and how many Alisters are alive today.
Alister (male) is a rare boys' name in England and Wales, ranked 2664th in 2025 and given to 8 babies. The name peaked in 1996, when 30 babies were given the name, the 564th most popular that year. It has declined since 1996; the 2025 figure is roughly 27% of its peak.
The Alister you are most likely to meet is around 31 years old. Half of all Alisters born in England and Wales are between 18 and 33, and there are at least 520 of them alive today. If you walk into a room of 100 males, there's less than a 1% chance that anyone will be called Alister - on average, only one in every 583 such rooms contains a Alister.
How many babies are named Alister each year?
Where does Alister rank among boys' names?
Where this data comes from
Figures from 1996 onwards are the Office for National Statistics' annual baby-name registrations for England and Wales, which record every name given to three or more babies in a year. Figures before 1996 are estimates: the ONS published only top-100 rankings at ten-year intervals back to 1904, so counts for those years are modelled from the rankings, calibrated against Douglas Galbi's long-run research into English name frequencies, and shown with an uncertainty band. Estimates of living bearers combine these birth figures with national life tables and ONS mid-year population estimates.
One limit worth naming: these figures count names as registered at birth. Anyone who changes their name later in life - including trans people, and anyone who adopts a different name by deed poll or simply by use - is not reflected here. Birth registrations record where a name began, not the name a person lives with.
Common questions
When was the name Alister most popular?
Alister peaked in 1996, when 30 babies in England and Wales were given the name.
How many people are called Alister?
At least 520 people named Alister born in England and Wales are alive today.
How old is the typical Alister?
Most living Alisters are between 18 and 33; the most common age is about 31.
Is Alister becoming more or less popular?
Declining: recent figures are a fraction of the 1996 peak.