How do you pronounce Alistair?

Boy Names
1

I am loving the name [name_m]Alistair[/name_m], but I hear two pronunciations of it, which is correct? [name_m]Al[/name_m]-iss-tur, or al-iss-DARE? (I live in the US if that makes a difference)

2

I pronounce it [name_m]AL[/name_m]-is-ter. [name_u]Love[/name_u] [name_m]Alistair[/name_m].

3

Ellis-stah (which I think would translate into Ellis-ster in American English)

4

[name_m]Alistair[/name_m]= [name_m]Al[/name_m]-iss-tur
[name_m]Alasdair[/name_m]= [name_m]Al[/name_m]-iss-dare

5

Oh wow, I didn’t realize the different spellings were pronounced differently! Thanks!

6

I say:

[name_m]Alistair[/name_m] - “[name_m]AL[/name_m]-ih-stuh” or “[name_m]AL[/name_m]-ih-stare”

[name_m]Alasdair[/name_m] - “[name_m]AL[/name_m]-uh-stuh” or “[name_m]AL[/name_m]-us-dare”

I live in [name_f]England[/name_f] if that helps.

7

I’m in Australia and know two who say is [name_m]AL[/name_m]-ih-stare

8

Same here! Also in [name_f]England[/name_f].

9

I would pronounce [name_m]Alistair[/name_m] as al-ih-stare or al-uh-stare, but in my accent Ts often get flattened and end up sounding like Ds so al-ih-stare and al-ihs-dare wouldn’t actually sound that different to me.

10

[name_m]Al[/name_m]-iss-tah. I have a lazy English accent though.

11

The correct pronunciation is [name_m]Ah[/name_m]-liss-ster regardless of spelling.

I’m Scottish

12

I say AL-iss-tuh. I’ve never heard the final syllable stressed, or the ‘Dare’ not even for Alasdair (for that I say AL-iss-duh with a very soft d). The different spellings are indistinguishable when I say them out loud.

13

This is what I always thought, but then I heard someone pronouncing it al-iss-dare so it made me wonder. Thanks!

Living in the US, -air endings on words are usually pronounced like air, stairs, dare, care etc, if we hypothetically used this name (prn. [name_m]Al[/name_m]-iss-tur) how often would it be mispronounced with the dare ending? I really doubt many people in my area have heard this name. :frowning:

14

Thank you, I’ve heard the first syllable stressed and the last and I was unsure which was actually correct. Thanks!

15

I’d pronounce ‘[name_m]Alistair[/name_m]’ like [name_m]Al[/name_m]-is-tur
I’d also pronounce the spelling ‘[name_m]Alasdair[/name_m]’ and all the other spelling variants this way too

(I’m Scottish and I know 3 different Alistairs with 3 different spellings and they’re all pronounced the same way)

16

Same, I’m from the UK.