I have a son named Alistair (born in 2018), and we don't usually pronounce it AL-i-stər. Here's why (Apologies in advance, we spent a lot of time thinking about this): I first heard the name when I lived in England for a time, and that phonetics just doesn't quite hit what it sounds like when the British say it to me or when Americans say it to them. Out of British mouths, it can often sound like AL-i-sduh/AL-i-sdə: -- with a short a or uh sound (this part of the chart was correct, but we don't use this sound there in America, see more below) -- often a 'd', not a 't' sound (especially in Scottish accent), and -- a barely-there or nonexistent 'r' on the end.We can't really say it that way in a general American accent without sounding like we're trying to do a British accent. Saying it in a general American accent, it ends up sounding like AL-i-stir/AL-i-sturr/AL-i-stɜ:ʳ, which from some of our nasally friends' mouths who ended up emphasizing the "stir" part for an extra half-second for some reason (like AL-i-STIR/AL-i-STURR), wasn't our favorite as a default. So for our son, we usually say AL-i-stair/Al-i-steəʳ. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯AL-i-stair just sounded so formal and dignified to us (almost French-like, debonair, solitaire). We liked it, and for Americans unfamiliar with the British name in general, it was straightforward. I ran it past two of my British friends and they both thought it was cool and weren't mortally offended in any way. One even really liked it. So we went with it.Note: When you say it quickly in either American pronunciation (stur or stair), it sounds relatively the same. Although we don't mind or correct people when they AL-i-stir/AL-i-stɜ:ʳ for him. I recognize that it's what most people take as the Americanized version of that pronunciation, and we say it that way too when we're speaking fast sometimes! :-) It's not that big of a deal. But I did want to comment that there are people using AL-i-stair/Al-i-steəʳ or even AL-i-sdair/Al-i-sdeəʳ in America and AL-i-sduh/AL-i-sdə in the UK.
0
I first heard the name when I lived in England for a time, and that phonetics just doesn't quite hit what it sounds like when the British say it to me or when Americans say it to them.
Out of British mouths, it can often sound like AL-i-sduh/AL-i-sdə:
-- with a short a or uh sound (this part of the chart was correct, but we don't use this sound there in America, see more below)
-- often a 'd', not a 't' sound (especially in Scottish accent), and
-- a barely-there or nonexistent 'r' on the end.
We can't really say it that way in a general American accent without sounding like we're trying to do a British accent. Saying it in a general American accent, it ends up sounding like AL-i-stir/AL-i-sturr/AL-i-stɜ:ʳ, which from some of our nasally friends' mouths who ended up emphasizing the "stir" part for an extra half-second for some reason (like AL-i-STIR/AL-i-STURR), wasn't our favorite as a default.
So for our son, we usually say AL-i-stair/Al-i-steəʳ. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
AL-i-stair just sounded so formal and dignified to us (almost French-like, debonair, solitaire). We liked it, and for Americans unfamiliar with the British name in general, it was straightforward. I ran it past two of my British friends and they both thought it was cool and weren't mortally offended in any way. One even really liked it. So we went with it.
Note: When you say it quickly in either American pronunciation (stur or stair), it sounds relatively the same.
Although we don't mind or correct people when they AL-i-stir/AL-i-stɜ:ʳ for him. I recognize that it's what most people take as the Americanized version of that pronunciation, and we say it that way too when we're speaking fast sometimes! :-) It's not that big of a deal.
But I did want to comment that there are people using AL-i-stair/Al-i-steəʳ or even AL-i-sdair/Al-i-sdeəʳ in America and AL-i-sduh/AL-i-sdə in the UK.