Alexander

What Alexander means

Means “to defend + man”

From Middle English Alexander, Alexandre, from Latin Alexander, from Ancient Greek Ἀλέξανδρος (Aléxandros), from ἀλέξω (aléxō, “to defend”) + ἀνδρ- (andr-), the stem of ἀνήρ (anḗr, “man”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Alexander” (revision 94582688), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Alexander?

US: Falling: down from #8 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #22 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1993, when 20,530 boys got the name (#21 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 236 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 214 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 130 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 AK (9.24 per 1,000 boys), DC (8.31 per 1,000 boys), WY (7.34 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Alexander is #30 in the US and #40 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.8% of US babies named Alexander 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

• Aleksander126 US · 84 E&W
• Alexandru9 US · 55 E&W
• Alexandro49 US
• Alekzander16 US
• Alixander7 US
• Alyxander6 US
• Alexxander6 US
• Aleczander6 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 Alexander

Boys

• Jason#165“I heal”^*
• Alex#232Short form of Alexandra, meaning “to defend + man”^*
• Christian#96Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 2000, with 16,059 babies; 3,641 in 2025
• Andrew#73“manly”^*
• Zachary#216“Yahweh has remembered”^*
• Hector#409“holding fast”^*

For a sister

• Alexis#554“helper, defender”^*
• Anna#107Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #44 in 2015, #107 in 2025
• Karina#749Form of Catherine, possibly meaning “each of the two”^*
• Katherine#186Variant of Catherine, possibly meaning “each of the two”^*
• Andrea#235Feminine form of Andreas, meaning “manly”^*
• Kathryn#729Variant of Catherine, possibly meaning “each of the two”^*

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 Alexander’s. Rank is US 2025.