Alexander - Origin and Meaning of the name

[ 4 syll. a-le-xan-der, al-exand-er ] The boy name Alexander is pronounced as AELahGZAENDer ^KEY. Alexander is a Dutch, English, German, Hungarian, and Slavic name of Old Greek origin. The name is of the meaning defender of men. Derived from the elements 'alexein' meaning to ward off, to defend ; 'aner' meaning man. The name was first borne by Paris the prince of Troy, who was given the nickname by herdsmen whom he had defended. It later appeared in the Macedonian royal family, who alternately named their kings Alexander and Philip. The most famous bearer was Alexander III, better known as Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), the King of Macedonia who in his twenties conquered most of Asia Minor, Babylon, Egypt, Persia, and Syria. Through his conquests and widely translated accounts of his life in the medieval 'Alexander romances', the name came into widespread use throughout Europe. At least twenty saints, three Russian emperors and eight popes later bore the name. The name was even adopted in Hebrew after his benign reign over Palestine. English speakers adopted the name from the 12th century. It was especially popular in Scotland after it was borne by three Scottish kings, starting from Alexander I, who was given his name by his mother, who was partially of Hungarian descent. The name was popular in Hungary, but it was not formerly used in Scotland. In literature, Alexander is the name of the servant to Cressida in William Shakespeare's play The History of Troilus and Cressida (1602). The name Alexandra (Czech, Dutch, English, German, Greek, Hungarian, Portuguese, Romanian, Scandinavian, Slavic, and Spanish) is the female version of Alexander.

Alexander is a widely used name; it has 106 variants that are used in both English and other languages. Variants of Alexander used in English include Alastair (also used in Scottish), Alaxander, Alek (also used in Russian), Aleks, Alexandro (also used in Esperanto and Spanish), Alexis (also used in German), Aliks, Alisander, Alissander, Alister (also used in Scottish), Alix, Axel (also used in German and Scandinavian), Les (also used in Russian), Lexi, Sande, and Saunders. Other English forms include the short forms Al, Alec, Aleck, Alex (also used in German), Alic (also used in Spanish), Alick, Alik (also used in German, and Spanish), Lex (also used in German), Sander (also used in Dutch, German, Scandinavian, Slavic, and Spanish), Xan, Xander (also used in Dutch and German), and Zander, the pet forms Allie, Sanders, Sandy (also used in Scottish), and Sawnie (also used in Scottish), and the variant spellings Alexandar, Alexandor, and Alyxander.

Foreign variants of Alexander include Alasdair (Scottish), Alastar (Irish), Aleixandre (Catalan), Alejandro (Spanish), Alejo (Spanish), Alekanekelo (Hawaiian), Alekko (Slavic), Alekos (Greek), Aleksandar (Slavic), Aleksander (Albanian, Estonian, Polish, Slavic, and Yiddish), Aleksandr (Russian), Aleksandro (Esperanto), Aleksandur (Slavic), Aleksanteri (Finnish), Aleksei (Russian), Ales (Czech), Alesander (Basque), Alesandro (Spanish), Alesandros (Spanish), Alesi (Spanish), Alesio (Spanish), Alesis (Spanish), Alessandre (Brazilian), Alessandri (Chilean), Alessandro (Italian and Spanish), Alexandr (Czech and Russian), Alexandre (Catalan, French, Galician, Hungarian, and Portuguese), Alexandros (Greek), Alexandru (Romanian), Alexei (Russian), Alexio (Portuguese), Alsandair (Irish), Alsandare (Irish), Alsander (Irish), Alyksandr (Ukrainian), Elek (Hungarian and Polish), Iskender (Turkish), Jandino (Spanish), Jando (Spanish), Leks (Estonian), Leksik (Czech), Lekso (Czech), Oleksander (Ukrainian), Oleksandr (Russian and Ukrainian), Olesko (Russian), Sandor (Hungarian), Sanyi (Hungarian), Sashenka (Russian), Sashka (Russian), Sender (Yiddish), Shurik (Russian), Shurka (Russian), Sikander (Indian), and Skender (Albanian and Romanian). Specific foreign variants include the short forms Sandro (Italian and Spanish), Santeri (Finnish), and Sándor (Hungarian), and the pet forms Alechjo (Esperanto), Aleko (Slavic), Leka (Albanian), Lexo (Slavic), Olech (Polish), Olek (Polish), Oles (Polish and Russian), Olexa (Czech), Santtu (Finnish), Sanya (Russian), Sascha (German), Sasha (Russian), Sawney (Scottish), and Shura (Russian).

See also the related form, Alistair (English and Scottish).

Alexander is very popular as a baby name for boys. The name's popularity jumped from the 1950s up to the 1990s. At the height of its usage in 1993, 0.994% of baby boys were given the name Alexander. Its ranking then was #21. The baby name has since experienced a fall in popularity. In 2008, its usage was 0.857% and its ranking #6, but it was nonetheless the most popular within all boy names in its group. In 2008, Alexander was thrice as popular as the next most popular name, Alex (English and German). Alexander has predominantly been a boy name, though in the past century it has also been used for girls. In 1992, boys named Alexander outnumbered girls by 91 times.

Baby names that sound like Alexander include Aleksander (Albanian, Estonian, Polish, Slavic, and Yiddish), Aleksandr (Russian), Aleksandur (Slavic), Aleksandar (Slavic), Aleksandro (Esperanto), Alesander (Basque), Alesandro (Spanish), Alessandre (Brazilian), Alessandri (Chilean), Alessandro (Italian and Spanish), Alexandre (Catalan, French, Galician, Hungarian, and Portuguese), Alisander (English), Alissander (English), Alyksandr (Ukrainian), Oleksander (Ukrainian), Oleksandr (Russian and Ukrainian), Aleksanteri (Finnish), Alsandair (Irish), Alsandare (Irish), and Alsander (Irish).

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