Alex

What Alex means

Short form of Alexandra, meaning “to defend + man”

clipping of Alexandra || From Ancient Greek Ἀλεξάνδρα (Alexándra), from ἀλέξω (aléxō, “to defend”) +‎ ἀνδρ- (andr-, stem of ἀνήρ (anḗr, “man”)).

Source: Wiktionary, “Alex” (revision 94534376) and “Alexandra” (revision 93670028), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Alex?

US: Falling: down from #134 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #75 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1995, when 7,424 boys got the name (#47 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 1,127 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 1,119 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 854 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in RI (2.56 per 1,000 boys), DC (1.98 per 1,000 boys), FL (1.6 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Alex is #232 in the US and #207 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 95.5% of US babies named Alex were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Aleks9 US · 4 E&W
• Alix11 US
• Elex5 US
• Elix5 US
• Alyx5 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Alex

Boys

• Andrew#73“manly”^*
• Jason#165“I heal”^*
• Zachary#216“Yahweh has remembered”^*
• Nicholas#112“victory + people”^*
• Hector#409“holding fast”^*
• Christopher#68“carrier of Christ”^*

For a sister

• Karina#749Form of Catherine, possibly meaning “each of the two”^*
• Alexandra#237“to defend + man”^*
• Andrea#235Feminine form of Andreas, meaning “manly”^*
• Kathryn#729Variant of Catherine, possibly meaning “each of the two”^*
• Katherine#186Variant of Catherine, possibly meaning “each of the two”^*
• Alexis#554“helper, defender”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Greek, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Alex’s. Rank is US 2025.