Given name & surname
McAllister
“the son of Alistair”
McAllister is a variant of Macallister. One interpretation is “the son of Alistair.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
McAllister is a variant of Macallister. One interpretation is “the son of Alistair.”
Explained through its name family
How it developed
From Scottish Gaelic Mac Alasdair (“son of Alexander”), built from English Mc- + Allister.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 2000. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
McAllister through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 81
- 70 boys · 11 girls
- Most popular year
- 2006
- 17 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 7 in 2023. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 12 in 2006. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 203 as a first name in 2020; 28,274 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
McAllister’s family of names
McAllister has a related form in Macallister. In English usage, McAllister as a surname has a related form in MCALESTER. In English usage, McAllister as a surname has a related form in McAlister.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 6
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
Similar names
If you love McAllister, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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