Alastair

maleStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Alastair: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Alastair: Recorded since 1966, it reached #182 in 1998, and it stood at #619 in 2024.

4registrars recorded it
56times a registrar ranked it
59years from first to last
#182highest recorded position
15groupings it qualifies for

Region

Falling

among boys in England and Wales · 1996–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Boys rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#195
1997	#241
1998	#250
1999	#272
2000	#319
2001	#317
2002	#338
2003	#418
2004	#443
2005	#438
2006	#440
2007	#589
2008	#803
2009	#777
2010	#792
2011	#759
2012	#748
2013	#720
2014	#805
2015	#888
2016	#870
2017	#771
2018	#897
2019	#787
2020	#1273
2021	#871
2022	#1366
2023	#1701
2024	#1282

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

FallingEngland and Wales · Boys

Recorded in official data among boys in Republic of Ireland in 21 of the 55 years from 1966 to 2020.

In 2024: #619 among boys in Scotland, #1282 among boys in England and Wales.

Official data from 4 national registrars across 4 regions, 1966–2024 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1966
First recorded at #229 among boys in Republic of Ireland in 1966 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
Republic of Ireland · Boys
Highest recorded1997–2007
Highest recorded position: #182 among boys in Northern Ireland, in 1998 (recorded 1997–2007).
Northern Ireland · Boys
Most recent2024
Most recently recorded at #1282 among boys in England and Wales, in 2024.
England and Wales · Boys

Alastair appears in 3 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Boys, with 29 ranked years and 1,635 births registered; the earliest is Republic of Ireland · Boys, from 1966.

Alastair across 3 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Alastair's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
Republic of Ireland · Boys	#229 (1966)	#217 (1984)	#637 (2020)	21 of 55	92 (1966–2020)	8 (1984)
England and Wales · Boys	#195 (1996)	#195 (1996)	#1282 (2024)	29 of 29	1,635 (1996–2024)	166 (1996)
Northern Ireland · Boys	#227 (1997)	#182 (1998)	#357 (2007)	5 of 11	27 (1997–2007)	8 (1998)

Alastair by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Alastair in England and Wales · Boys, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	508	4 of 10	127
2000sbusiest	626	10 of 10	63
2010s	392	10 of 10	39
2020s	109	5 of 10	22

Across England and Wales · Boys, the 2000s were its busiest decade, averaging 63 births a year.

Its sharpest single-year move came between 1996 and 1997, when recorded births fell by 41, from 166 to 125.

See the names England and Waleshas recorded the most births with →

Alastair appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Official popularity data is available for 4 regions, from 1966 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #182 in Northern Ireland in 1998.

Alastair's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2024	England and Wales	male	#1282	21	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	male	#1701	14	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	male	#1366	19	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	male	#871	35	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	male	#1273	20	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	male	#787	40	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	male	#897	33	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	male	#771	44	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	male	#870	36	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	male	#888	34	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	male	#805	38	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	male	#720	45	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	male	#748	44	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	male	#759	41	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	male	#792	37	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	male	#777	37	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	male	#803	35	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	male	#589	50	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	male	#440	74	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	male	#438	65	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	male	#443	61	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	male	#418	62	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	male	#338	75	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	male	#317	84	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	male	#319	83	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	male	#272	102	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	male	#250	115	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	male	#241	125	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	male	#195	166	High	Verified
2007	Northern Ireland	male	#357	3	High	Verified
2001	Northern Ireland	male	#243	4	High	Verified
1999	Northern Ireland	male	#199	7	High	Verified
1998	Northern Ireland	male	#182	8	High	Verified
1997	Northern Ireland	male	#227	5	High	Verified
2020	Republic of Ireland	male	#637	4	High	Verified
2015	Republic of Ireland	male	#615	4	High	Verified
2011	Republic of Ireland	male	#730	3	High	Verified
2010	Republic of Ireland	male	#611	4	High	Verified
2008	Republic of Ireland	male	#529	5	High	Verified
2004	Republic of Ireland	male	#351	6	High	Verified
2000	Republic of Ireland	male	#390	3	High	Verified
1995	Republic of Ireland	male	#241	7	High	Verified
1992	Republic of Ireland	male	#337	3	High	Verified
1990	Republic of Ireland	male	#245	6	High	Verified
1989	Republic of Ireland	male	#232	6	High	Verified
1984	Republic of Ireland	male	#217	8	High	Verified
1983	Republic of Ireland	male	#282	4	High	Verified
1981	Republic of Ireland	male	#260	5	High	Verified
1980	Republic of Ireland	male	#321	3	High	Verified
1979	Republic of Ireland	male	#324	3	High	Verified
1978	Republic of Ireland	male	#255	5	High	Verified
1974	Republic of Ireland	male	#321	3	High	Verified
1968	Republic of Ireland	male	#267	3	High	Verified
1967	Republic of Ireland	male	#265	3	High	Verified
1966	Republic of Ireland	male	#229	4	High	Verified
2024	Scotland	male	#619	4	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Northern Ireland hub — collected by NISRA
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland
Scotland hub — collected by National Records of Scotland

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 4 registrars between 1966 and 2024, ranked in 43 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #182, first reached in 1998.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 166 births, registered in England and Wales in 1996.

Its record falls into 7 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 5 years.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1996, and 58 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Alasdair · #234, 30y
Alaska · #1454, 23y
Alaw · #992, 29y
Alaya · #225, 26y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 4 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Conrad · #181, 45y
Mantas · #181, 43y
Patrycja · #180, 47y
Blaine · #186, 38y

Also first recorded in the 1960s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1960 and 1969.

Darius · #182, 58y
Gavan · #182, 32y
Cecil · #181, 38y
Conrad · #181, 45y

Alastair was ranked #182 in Northern Ireland · Boys in 1998. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Alastair and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,573 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Alastair without appearing here.

Alastair moved ahead of

Calum Compare
In 2020 they stood at #1273 and #1192 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2021 that had become #871 and #1984.
Ross Compare
In 2022 they stood at #1366 and #1366 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2023 that had become #1701 and #2160.
Craig Compare
In 2015 they stood at #888 and #821 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2016 that had become #870 and #1157.
Brett Compare
In 2008 they stood at #803 and #775 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2009 that had become #777 and #972.

Moved ahead of Alastair

Eoin Compare
In 2019 they stood at #787 and #952 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2020 that had become #1273 and #755.
Jeremy Compare
In 2019 they stood at #787 and #798 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2020 that had become #1273 and #755.
Leif Compare
In 2021 they stood at #871 and #1782 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2022 that had become #1366 and #967.
Filip Compare
In 2006 they stood at #440 and #443 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2007 that had become #589 and #253.

Moved the opposite way to Alastair

Aaron Compare
Between 1966 and 2020 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Alastair went from #229 to #637 while Aaron went from #171 to #45.
Adam Compare
Between 1966 and 2020 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Alastair went from #229 to #637 while Adam went from #229 to #12.
Alexander Compare
Between 1966 and 2020 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Alastair went from #229 to #637 while Alexander went from #114 to #40.
Benjamin Compare
Between 1966 and 2020 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Alastair went from #229 to #637 while Benjamin went from #185 to #50.

Moved the same way as Alastair

Adrian Compare
Between 1966 and 2020 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Alastair went from #229 to #637 and Adrian from #80 to #211.
Alfred Compare
Between 1966 and 2020 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Alastair went from #229 to #637 and Alfred from #159 to #271.
Denis Compare
Between 1966 and 2020 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Alastair went from #229 to #637 and Denis from #26 to #180.
Edward Compare
Between 1966 and 2020 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Alastair went from #229 to #637 and Edward from #17 to #90.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Official popularity data is available for 4 regions, from 1966 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #182 in Northern Ireland in 1998. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Alastair

Alastair at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Alastair across 3 official records

Alastair by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Alastair appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1960s

Names published alongside Alastair

Alastair and the names beside it

Alastair moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Alastair

Moved the opposite way to Alastair

Moved the same way as Alastair

Alastair at a glance

Alastair across 3 official records

Alastair by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Alastair appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1960s

Names published alongside Alastair

Alastair and the names beside it

Alastair moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Alastair

Moved the opposite way to Alastair

Moved the same way as Alastair