I'm 26 weeks pregnant and my DH and I have narrowed our name choices down to two options for a boy and two for a girl. I'm quite excited about the girls names however I'm a little anxious about the boys names. Our top choice at the moment is Alistair. What does everyone think of this name? I like it but am concerned about nicknames as I don't really like Al or Ali. Does anyone know of some alternative nicknames for Alistair?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

Only Alistair I know is called 'Alley' (pron) by everyone.

Well I absolutely love it, but then I am biased as it's my baby's name. We don't usually shorten it as we call him Puffin as a nickname (long story there).

I'm assuming that he will get called Al at some stage but for now he's just Alistair. At first it sounded a bit odd for a tiny baby (as to me it's more of a grown man's name) but now it feels quite natural.

Though I wouldn't have thought of this myself, apparently The Baby Name Wizard (Laura Wattenburg's famous naming resource) lists "Alec" as a possible nickname.

ETA: I adore the name Alistair and prefer it with no nickname. But Alec is a pretty cool nickname if you want one.

A friend of mine is called Alistair and his nicknames were Al, Alice and Stairway which also morphed into Stairway to Heaven. All were said lovingly though! I really like this name.

The only Alistair I know is called Ali

I worked with an Alistair for a few years. Generally it was Al or when being stupid - Alison. Nice name, but so many variations.

I know a couple of Alistairs. One gets called Lal and the other Al. I love the name, but DH wont let me consider it.

The only one I've known with nickname got Al, the others have just been called Alistair. I think Ali as a nickname is rather feminine if you're pronouncing it the same way the 'Ali' part of Alistair is pronounced.

Alistair would have been DD's name if she were a boy. It is a family name for us so would have been spelt Alasdair. I was planning to call him Alec for short since I believe Alistair is the gaelic form of Alexander.

I love that name...great choice!

I had a friend with the name and everyone called him La la or Al, even though he was late 20's everyone took the name seriously and said it everyday without even a smile!

I've known a few Alistairs and they were all called Al. Maybe something like Ace?

Yep, Alasdair / Alistair the scottish form of Alexander.

I am so glad your DH loves this name, mine is not so keen even though its my current fav

The Alistair I know of is called Ali.

Great name - one of my favourites! Although I prefer it to be spelt Alastair. Only nickname that comes to mind is Al.

Good Luck!

Great name! I love Totoro's suggestion of 'Stairway to Heaven' as a nickname. Otherwise maybe something initial related, eg, my friend has an Andrew James whose nickname is AJ which I think is really cute.

A young Alistair we know gets called 'Big Al'.

I love the name, it was on our list.

My brother calls DS that.



Took me 3 goes to convince DH - his main objection was that he doesn't like Al, but as we don't use it not many other people (apart from my brother - see above) use it.

I do know one Alistair who gets "Lesti"
Otherwise, Ali or Al are pretty obvious nicknames

Wow! Thanks so much for all your feedback Ladies. It is much appreciated. Leo74, you raise an interesting point regarding the spelling. I quite like it spelt Alastair too. DH and I couldn't decide on which way to spell it. Is Alistair the most common way it is spelt?

It was DH who had to convince me regarding this name. He wanted to call our first son Alistair but I got my own way that time and we didn't use it. This time around I knew I didn't have a leg to stand on. Lol! The name has really grown on me over time though.

I think it may be evenly split between Alistair and Alastair. We chose the Alistair version as it looks better with our surname and because DH prefers to pronounce it as Alister (which is yet another variation!) - my compromise on getting my way LOL.

I love Alistair.

The lead singer from UB40 is Ali Campbell, which is short for Alistair. Personally, I prefer the full name to be used, but I don't think Ali is the worst NN he could have.

Ali.

LOVE this name - it was on my list for DS