Macallister
Son of the great warrior or chief.
Name Census estimates that about 268 living Americans carry the first name Macallister. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Macallister today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Macallister births was 2008 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Macallister. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
268
~ 1 in 1,278,934 Americans
Peak year
2008
17 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,780
Tracked since 1996
Popularity
Macallister: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Macallister from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 107 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Macallister by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Macallister during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Macallister
The name Macallister is a Scottish variant of the surname MacAlister, which derives from the Gaelic name "Alasdair" or "Alastar," which in turn comes from the Greek name "Alexandros." The prefix "Mac" means "son of" in Gaelic, indicating a patronymic surname. The name likely emerged in the medieval era among Scottish clans.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Macallister is found in the 16th century Scottish text "The Manuscript of Fernaig," which mentions a certain "Calum Mac Alasdair" or "Calum son of Alasdair." This suggests the name was in use by at least the late Middle Ages in Scotland.
The name Macallister has been borne by several notable individuals throughout history. One of the earliest was Sir Archibald Macallister, a 16th-century Scottish nobleman and military leader who fought in the Anglo-Scottish Wars. Another notable bearer was John Macallister, a 17th-century Scottish poet and writer who authored works in both Scots and English.
In the 18th century, James Macallister was a prominent Scottish physician and botanist who made significant contributions to the study of plant life in the Caribbean region. A century later, Robert Macallister was a respected Scottish architect who designed several notable buildings in Glasgow and Edinburgh in the late 19th century.
One of the most famous bearers of the name was Sir Donald Macallister, a 20th-century Scottish politician and lawyer who served as Lord Advocate of Scotland from 1935 to 1941. Born in 1888, he played a crucial role in Scottish legal affairs during the turbulent years of World War II.
These are but a few examples of the many notable individuals who have borne the name Macallister throughout history, reflecting its rich Scottish heritage and enduring legacy.
People
Macallister + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Macallister as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Macallister: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Macallister?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 268 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Macallister going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,278,934 US residents.
Is Macallister a common name?
We classify Macallister as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 271 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Macallister most popular?
The single biggest year for Macallister was 2008, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Macallister is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Macallister a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Macallister in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.