Alston
Masculine · “Ælfsige's farmstead”
Alston is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 2,578 boys against 22 girls since 1880.
Alston is an English place name several times over, and each of them means someone's farmstead: an Old English personal name plus tūn, the commonest ending in the English landscape. It became an American first name in the nineteenth century.
How old is the name Alston?
Alston first appears in US birth records in 1894 — 131 years ago. The typical Alston alive today was born around 1998, making them about 27 years old. About 2,100 people named Alston are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Alston most popular?
Alston peaked in 1894, reaching #857 nationally. Today it ranks #5608, 4,751 places below that high. See the whole 1894 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Ælfsigetūn to Alston
The story of Alston
Alston in Cumbria calls itself the highest market town in England, and there are Alstons in Devon, Lancashire and Somerset. The surname came from the places and traveled to America, thickest in the Carolinas — the Alston and Allston families were among the great rice planters of the Carolina low country, and Washington Allston was an important American Romantic painter. As a given name it belongs to the nineteenth-century surname fashion and peaks in 1894, alongside Chester, Sumner and Vernon.
Meaningscholars disagree
Ælfsige's farmstead, or the old settlement
The English places called Alston have several derivations: the Old English personal names Ælfsige, Æthelstan and Halfdan have all been proposed for different sites, each with tūn, a farmstead. A derivation from ald, old, is also offered. Which applies to a given surname family is not recoverable, and no single reading covers the name.
How the name formed
- Ælfsigetūn
- Alston
Related forms: Allston · Alnestune
Pronouncing Alston
AL-stun
Two syllables, stress on the first, the second reduced. There is no ambiguity in speech.
Nicknames for Alston
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1894
- Most boys named
- 201466 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #857reached in 1894
- Change vs 2023
- −20.0%16 in 2025, from 20
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Alston in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Allston in English — spelling variant
- Alnestune in Old English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York, North Carolina.
Alstons among us
people named Alston are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 106,755 born in 2025 was named Alston
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Alston sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Alston beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Alston in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Al is available as an entirely ordinary short form.
- Everyone can say and spell it after one hearing.
- It has a documented English place-name history.
- The meaning varies by place and no single reading applies.
- It reads as a surname on forms.
- It is strongly dated to the late nineteenth century.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Alston to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Alston? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Alston
Masculine · #5608 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Alstons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,100 people named Alston are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Alston in 2025?
- Alston ranks #5608 among US boy names in 2025, with 16 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Alston?
- About 1 in every 106,755 US boys born in 2025 was named Alston — 16 in all.
- Will my child share the name Alston with classmates?
- Alston will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Alston
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Rolland#5608 · Llewellyn#5608 · Arlie#5608 · Gerrit#5608 · Vinson#5608 · Georgie#5608 · Wally#5608 · Webb#5608
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Alston? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Alston and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle