| The boy name Alexander [ 4 syll. a-le-xan-der, al-exand-er ] is pronounced as AELahGZAENDer KEY. Alexander is a Dutch, English, German, Hungarian, and Slavic name of Old Greek origin. Alexander has 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 was not formerly used in Scotland. In literature, Alexander appeared as the name of the servant to Cressida in 'The History of Troilus and Cressida'. Other notable bearers include the wealthy and powerful Pope Alexander VI (1431-1503), the English poet Alexander Pope (1688-1744), the American politician and Founding Father Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804), the Scottish-Canadian explorer Sir Alexander MacKenzie (1764-1820), the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837), the Scottish-born US scientist and inventor Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922), the British biologist Sir Alexander Fleming (1881-1955), and the American theatre critic Sir Alexander Woollcott (1887-1943). 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 53 variants that are used in both English and other languages. Variants of Alexander used in English include Alexandro (also used in Esperanto and Spanish), Alisander, and Alissander. Other English variants include the short forms Al, Alec, Aleck, Alex (also used in German), Alic, Alick, Alik, Lex (also used in German), Xander (also used in Dutch and German), and Zander, and the pet form Sandy. Foreign variants of Alexander include Alasdair (Scottish), Alastar (Irish), Aleixandre (Catalan), Alejandro (Spanish), Aleksandar (Slavic), Aleksander (Albanian, Estonian, Polish, and Slavic), Aleksandr (Russian), Aleksandro (Esperanto), Aleksanteri (Finnish), Alesander (Basque), Alessandre (Brazilian), Alessandri (Chilean), Alessandro (Italian), Alexandr (Czech), Alexandre (Catalan, French, Galician, and Portuguese), Alexandros (Greek), Alexandru (Romanian), Alsandair (Irish), Alsandare (Irish), Iskender (Turkish), Oleksander (Ukrainian), Oleksandr (Ukrainian), Sender (Yiddish), and Skender (Albanian and Romanian). Specific foreign variants include the short forms Sander (Dutch, German, and Scandinavian), Sandro (Italian), Santeri (Finnish), and Sándor (Hungarian), and the pet forms Alechjo (Esperanto), Olech (Polish), Olek (Polish), Oles (Polish), Olexa (Czech), Santtu (Finnish), Sanya (Russian), Sasha (Russian), Sawney (Scottish), Sawnie (Scottish), and Shura (Russian). See also the related forms, Alexis (English and German) and 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 2007, its usage was 0.820% and its ranking #11, but it was nonetheless the most popular within all boy names in its group. In 2007, 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, and Slavic), Aleksandr (Russian), Aleksandar (Slavic), Aleksandro (Esperanto), Alesander (Basque), Alessandre (Brazilian), Alessandri (Chilean), Alessandro (Italian), Alexandre (Catalan, French, Galician, and Portuguese), Alisander (English), Alissander (English), Oleksander (Ukrainian), Oleksandr (Ukrainian), Aleksanteri (Finnish), Alsandair (Irish), and Alsandare (Irish). KEY: Pronunciation for Alexander: AE as in "at (AE.T)" ; L as in "lee (L.IY)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)" ; G as in "green (G.R.IY.N)" ; Z as in "zee (Z.IY)" ; AE as in "at (AE.T)" ; N as in "knee (N.IY)" ; D as in "dee (D.IY)" ; ER as in "hurt (HH.ER.T)"
Details of famous persons named Alexander:
Bacteriologist Alexander Fleming, born 6 August 1881 - 11 March 1955, Lochfield, Aryshire, Scotland.
Baseball Player Alex Rodriguez, born Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez, 27 July 1975, New York, New York.
Emperor Alexander the Great, born 356 B.C.323 B.C., Pella, Macedonia.
Inventor Alexander Graham Bell, born Alexander Bell, 3 March 1847 - 2 August 1922, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Military Leader Alexander Haig, born Alexander Meigs Haig, Jr., 2 December 1924, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Poet Alexander Pope, born 21 May 1688 - 30 May 1744, London, England.
Political Figure Alexander Kerensky, born Alexandr Feodorovich Kerensky, 22 April 1881 - 11 June 1970, Simbirsk, Russia.
Political Figure Alexander Lukashenko, born 30 August 1954, Kopys, B.S.S.R., U.S.S.R.
Revolutionary War Figure Alexander Hamilton, born 11 January 1757 - 12 July 1804, Nevis, British West Indies.
Sailor Alexander Selkirk, born 12 December 1721, Lower Largo, Fife, Scotland. |
