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Alexander

Greek
"defending men"
Clare Green
By Clare Green
Updated Mon Sep 02 2024

Alexander Origin and Meaning

The name Alexander is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "defending men".

Alexander has been in a Top 25 boys' name in the US for 30 years now. But namers are still attracted to its imposing historic pedigree.

Alexander is derived from the Greek name Aléxandros, composed of the elements aléxein, meaning "to defend," and aner, meaning "man."

According to Greek legend, the first Alexander was Paris, who was given the nickname Alexander by the shepherds whose flocks he defended against robbers. He was followed by Alexander the Great, aka Alexander III, who conquered much of Asia.

A royal name in Scotland, Alexander is still highly popular there. In Gaelic, the name became Alasdair; in Spain, Alejandro; and in Italy, Alessandro.

The noble Alexander has led to the popularity of many spinoffs, such as Alex, Zander, Xan and Zan, along with female versions such as Alexandra, Alexis, and the unfortunate Alexa.

Among the many notable Alexanders in history, standouts are Hamilton, Graham Bell, Fleming, Pope and Haig.

Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber's Alexander is known as Sasha.

# 22 in the US

Alexander Rank in US Top 1000

# 54 on Nameberry

Alexander Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Alexander Popularity

Famous People Named Alexander

  • Alexander the GreatMacedonian conqueror
  • Alexander I and IIEmperors of Russia
  • AlexanderKing of Greece
  • Alexander IIII, Kings of Scotland
  • AlexanderKing of Yugoslavia
  • WillemAlexander Claus George Ferdinand of Orange,Nassau, King of the Netherlands
  • Alexander Graham BellScottish inventor of the telephone
  • Alexander HamiltonRevolutionary War general, first Secretary of the Treasury and American Founding Father
  • (Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich) Alexander von HumboldtGerman biogeographer
  • Alexander CalderAmerican sculptor
  • Alexander William GaskarthAmerican singer of pop/punk band All Time Low
  • Alexander LudwigCanadian actor
  • Alexander Meigs HaigUnited States general and Secretary of State
  • Alexander PopeEnglish poet
  • Alexander Rae "Alec" BaldwinAmerican actor
  • Alexander Johan Hjalmar SkarsgardSwedish actor
  • AlexanderJewish leader (Acts 4:6)
  • Alexander Cameron RutherfordCanadian politician; 1st Premier of Alberta
  • AlexanderBishop of Lincoln
  • Alexander Igoryevich RybakBelarusian,Norwegian singer,songwriter
  • Alexander Jerome GouldAmerican voice actor
  • Alexander David "Alex" TurnerEnglish lead singer of Arctic Monkeys
  • Alexander David "Alex" LinzAmerican actor
  • Alexander PedenScottish Covenanter preacher
  • Alexander James "AJ" McLeanAmerican singer of the Backstreet Boys
  • Alexander ArmstrongEnglish comedian and presenter
  • Alexander MastersEnglish author
  • Alexander DimmiYugoslavian singer
  • Alexander Kapranoslead singer of Scottish band Franz Ferdinand
  • Alexander "Alex" Hirschcreator of Disney cartoon "Gravity Falls" and Actually Satan
  • Miss J. Alexanderrunway coach on "America's Next Top Model"
  • Alexander Instøymember of Norwegian boy band The Main Level
  • Alexander Vail "Alex" EcksteinAmerican child actor; triplet brother of Benjamin and Caleb
  • Alexander Grigoryevich LukashenkoPresident of Belarus
  • Alexander MassialasAmerican fencer
  • Alexander GamelinAmerican,born ice dancer who represents South Korea
  • Alexander Johan Hjalmar SkarsgårdSwedish actor
  • Alexander Thomas "Alex" CastleGerman music producer of "Twoloud"
  • Alexander Timothy "Alex" MarshallAmerican musician of rock band "The Cab"
  • Alexander Biehn (b. 2003)son of actor Michael Biehn
  • Alexander Puck (b. 2006)son of celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck
  • Alexander "Sasha" Pete Schrieber (b. 2007)son of actors Liev Schrieber and Naomi Watts
  • Alexander David Conrod (b. 2010)son of journalist and TV personality Nina García
  • Alexander "Zander" Rafahi MehranIII (b. 2011), son of model Maggie Rizer
  • Alexander "Jack" John Buckley Ford (b. 2012)son of fashion designer Tom Ford
  • Alexander Frost Brown (b. 2014)son of country music singer Zac Brown
  • Prince Alexander Erik Hubertus Bertil of SwedenDuke of Södermanland (b. 2016), son of Prince Carl Philip of Sweden, Duke of Värmland and Princess Sofia of Sweden, Duchess of Värmland
  • Alexander Clooney (b. 2017)son of actor George Clooney and Amal Clooney; twin of sister Ella
  • Talus Alexander Merazson of actor Alex Meraz
  • Alexander Gere (b. 2019)son of American actor Richard Gere & Spanish publicist Alejandra Silva
  • Alexander "Alex" AdamEnglish singer/gitarist of ROAM
  • Alexander "Alex" CostelloEnglish singer of ROAM
  • Alexander "Sascha" ZverevGerman tennis player
  • Alexander J. Newallcreator of Rusty Quill, story editor on "The Magnus Archives"

Alexander in Pop Culture

  • Alexander "Alex" Stowe is a character in Lisa McMann's "Unwanteds" book series
  • Alexander RozhenkoWorf's son on TV's "Star Trek: The Next Generation"
  • Alexander Saxtoncharacter in "Horror Express"
  • Dr. Alexander "Alex" Karevcharacter on TV's "Grey's Anatomy"
  • Alexander "Xander" Harrismain character on TV's "Buffy The Vampire Slayer"
  • Alexander "Alec" Lightwoodcharacter in 'The Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare
  • Alexander Ashfordcharacter in the Resident Evil video game series
  • Alexander von Brennenburgcharacter in video game "Amnesia: The Dark Descent"
  • Alexander "Alex" Mercercharacter in video game series Prototype
  • Sir Alexander Dane/Dr. Lazaruscharacter in movie "Galaxy Quest"
  • Alexander Szukalskicharacter from "Night Trains" by Barbara Wood
  • Alexander Gothcharacter in "The Sims"
  • Alexander Crosscharacter in "The Sims"
  • Alexander "Alex" Summersalso known as Havok, character in Marvel Universe
  • Alexander Goodwin Piercecharacter in Marvel Universe
  • Alexander Joseph "Lex" Luthorcharacter in DC Universe
  • Alexander Knoxcharacter in DC Universe
  • Alexandera maleficent, ancient deity in the video game Final Fantasy XI
  • "Alexander and the TerribleHorrible, No Good, Very Bad Day," children's book by Judith Viorst and 2014 movie
  • Alexander DeLargemain character in "A Clockwork Orange" by Anthony Burgess
  • Alexander “Alex” Katsopolischaracter on TV’s Full House and Fuller House

Alexander in Nameberry Blog Posts