Alistair
/ˈæl.ɪ.stɚ/
"alistair" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Alistair” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #20,830 in English word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #20,830
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A male given name from Scottish Gaelic.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Alistair |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /ˈæl.ɪ.stɚ/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #20,830 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Alistair” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for Alistair is 8 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈæl.ɪ.stɚ/. Corpus data places it at rank #20,830 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A male given name from Scottish Gaelic.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for Alistair, with forms such as "ailstair", "alisatir", and "alisstair". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "Alastair", "Alasdair", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Scottish Gaelic Alasdair, from Norman Alexandre or Latin Alexandrus, from Ancient Greek Ἀλέξανδρος (Aléxandros), from ἀλέξω (aléxō, “I defend”) + ἀνδρ- (andr-), the stem of ἀνήρ (anḗr, “man”). The correct English form is Alistair, spelled A-L-I-S-T-A-I-R.
Definition
- 1A male given name from Scottish Gaelic.
Etymology
From Scottish Gaelic Alasdair, from Norman Alexandre or Latin Alexandrus, from Ancient Greek Ἀλέξανδρος (Aléxandros), from ἀλέξω (aléxō, “I defend”) + ἀνδρ- (andr-), the stem of ἀνήρ (anḗr, “man”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ailstair,alisatir,alisstair,alistairr,alistari,alistiar,alisttair,alitsair,allistair,alsitair,laistair
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Alistair - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "Alistair"?
What does "Alistair" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "Alistair"?
How do you pronounce "Alistair"?
What is the origin of the word "Alistair"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “Alistair”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-L-I-S-T-A-I-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈæl.ɪ.stɚ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Alastair” - see the side-by-side comparison. Alistair vs Alastair
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.