Xander

What Xander means

Diminutive of Alexander, meaning “to defend + man”

diminutive of the male given name Alexander || 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, “Xander” (revision 92474818) and “Alexander” (revision 94582688), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Xander?

US: Falling: down from #206 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #277 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2017, when 2,414 boys got the name (#164 that year). First in the US records in 1990.

How common

• About 1 in 1,279 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 1,283 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 935 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 (2.88 per 1,000 boys), NM (1.85 per 1,000 boys), NV (1.42 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Xander is #259 in the US and #236 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Xander 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

• Zander804 US · 33 E&W
• Sander41 US · 3 E&W
• Sonder43 US
• Sender9 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 Xander

Boys

• Damian#109“to tame”^*
• Sebastian#16“august, venerable, exalted”^*
• Pierce#505Form of Peter, meaning “stone, rock”^*
• Isaias#426Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #426 vs #3,256 in 2025
• Orion#334possibly “heaven's light”^*
• Solomon#422“peace”^*

For a sister

• Sophia#5“wisdom”^*
• Zoey#69Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1967, with 6 babies
• Greta#908Editor’s note Down from #575 in 2015 to #908 in 2025 in the US
• Lilly#252Form of Lilian, possibly meaning “lily”^*
• Sophie#55French form of Sophia, meaning “wisdom”^*
• Lydia#92“the region of Lydia”^*

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 Xander’s. Rank is US 2025.