Alexandra - Origin and Meaning of the name

[ 4 syll. a-le-xan-dra, al-exand-ra ] The girl name Alexandra is pronounced AELehGZAENDRah or AELihGZAENDRah ^KEY. Alexandra's language of origin is Old Greek. It is predominantly used in Czech, Dutch, English, German, Greek, Hungarian, Portuguese, Romanian, Scandinavian, Slavic, and Spanish. The name Alexandra means 'defender of men'. Derived from alexein which means 'to ward off, to defend' ; aner which means 'man'. The name was borne in Greek mythology as an epithet by the goddess Hera. It was also borne by Alix of Hesse, the wife of Nicholas II the last Tsar of Russia; she was given the name Alexandra after being received into the Russian Church. The name was first popularized in the late 19th century by Queen Alexandra (1844-1925), the Danish princess who married King Edward VII of England. The form Alexandrina was popular in the 19th century as well, as it was Queen Victoria's (1819-1901) first name. Other members of royalty with the name have included Empress Alexandra of Russia (1872-1918) and the cousin of Elizabeth II, Princess Alexandra (1936-). Alexandra is the feminine form of the Dutch, English, German, Hungarian, and Slavic Alexander.

The name Alexandra is widely used; it has 106 forms that are used in both English and foreign languages. English forms of the name include Alena (also used in Russian and Czech), Alesha (also used in Russian), Alexanderia (also used in Spanish), Alexanderina, Alexanderine, Alexandrea, Alexandrena, Alexandrene, Alexandria, Alexis (also used in German and Spanish), Alla (also used in Spanish and Russian), Alli (also used in Finnish and Spanish), Drina (also used in Italian and Spanish), Kina (also used in Scottish), Lexine, Lisandra, Lisandrina, Lisandrine, Lissandra, Ola (also used in Polish), and Saundra. Other English forms include the short forms Alex, Alexa (also used in German, Hungarian, and Spanish), Sandra (also used in French, German, Italian, and Spanish), Sondra (also used in Italian, and Spanish), and Zandra (also used in Italian, and Spanish), the pet forms Alexea, Alexena (also used in Spanish), Alexene, Alexi, Alexia (also used in German, and Spanish), Alexie, Alexina (also used in Scottish, and Spanish), Alexine (also used in French, and Greek), Ali (also used in Spanish), Alie (also used in Dutch and ), Alix, Aljexi, Dzana, Lexa (also used in Czech and ), Lexi (also used in Spanish), Lexie, Lexy (also used in Scottish), Sanda (also used in Spanish), Sandee, Sandi (also used in Spanish), Sandie, and Sandy, and the spelling variant Alyxandra.

Forms of Alexandra used in foreign languages include the Polish Ala, the Spanish Alajandra, the Spanish Alandra, the Irish, Scottish, and Spanish Alastrina, the Irish, Scottish, and Spanish Alastriona, the Spanish Alejandra, the Spanish Alejandrina, the Greek and Spanish Aleka, the Hawaiian Alekanederina, the Slavic Alekko, the Russian Aleks, the Polish, Russian, and Slavic Aleksandra, the Russian and Slavic Aleksey, the Slavic Aleksi, the Czech Ales, the Polish Aleska, the Italian Alessa, the Italian and Spanish Alessandra, the Spanish Alessandrina, the Italian and Spanish Alessia, the Scottish Alesta, the French Alexandrie, the French, German, and Spanish Alexandrina, the French and German Alexandrine, the Greek Alexiou, the French and German Alexius, the Spanish Alista, the Polish Alka, the Spanish Alondra, the Russian and Arabic Alya, the Spanish Anda, the Hungarian Elek, the Spanish, Czech, Italian, Romanian, Russian, and Slavic Elena, the Hungarian and Indian Eli, the Russian Lelya, the Czech Leska, the Spanish Lesy, the Russian Lesya, the Polish Olesia, the Russian, Slavic, and Ukrainian Olesja, the Russian Oleska, the Russian Olesya, the Greek Ritsa, the Slavic Sander, the German, Italian, and Spanish Sandrina, the French Sandrine, the Russian and Hungarian Sasa, the Russian Shurka, and the Spanish Zondra. Specific foreign variants include the short forms Xandra (French and Spanish) and Xandrine (French), and the pet forms Sanja (German and Russian), Sannie (Dutch and German), Sanya (Russian), Sasha (Russian and Spanish), Shura (Russian), and Sinisa (Slavic).

Alexandra is a popular baby girl name. The name grew in popularity from the 1930s up to the 1990s. Its usage peaked in 1993 with 0.542% of baby girls being named Alexandra. It had a ranking of #28 then. The baby name has experienced a drop in frequency since then. In 2008, it ranked at #61 with a usage of 0.222%, but it was nevertheless the 3rd most popular after the English, German, and Spanish Alexis and the English, German, Hungarian, and Spanish Alexa, among all girl names in its family. The name was twice as popular as Alexandra in 2008.

Baby names that sound like Alexandra include the Spanish Alajandra, the Polish, Russian, and Slavic Aleksandra, the Italian and Spanish Alessandra, and the English Alexandria.

Details of famous persons named Alexandra:
Actress Alexandra Paul, born 29 July 1963, New York, New York.
Chess Player Alexandra Kosteniuk, born 23 April 1984, Perm, Russia.
Figure Skater Sasha Cohen, born Alexandra Pauline Cohen 26 October 1984, Westwood, California.
Political Relative Alexandra Kerry, born 5 September 1973.

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