Zander

What Zander 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, “Zander” (revision 87120138) and “Alexander” (revision 94582688), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Zander?

US: Falling: down from #249 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #612 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2013, when 1,600 boys got the name (#230 that year). First in the US records in 1915.

How common

• About 1 in 2,124 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 8,240 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 1,091 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 WV (1.79 per 1,000 boys), NV (1.33 per 1,000 boys), OK (1.02 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Zander is #396 in the US and #934 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 Zander 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

• Xander1,335 US · 212 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 Zander

Boys

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

For a sister

• Sophia#5“wisdom”^*
• Greta#908Editor’s note Down from #575 in 2015 to #908 in 2025 in the US
• Lilly#252Form of Lilian, possibly meaning “lily”^*
• Zoey#69Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1967, with 6 babies
• Sophie#55French form of Sophia, meaning “wisdom”^*
• Maya#62Editor’s note Steady in the US: #68 in 2015 and #62 in 2025. About 1 in 430 US girls in the 2025 records

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 Zander’s. Rank is US 2025.