Xavier originated is use as a given name after Saint Francis Xavier, cofounder of the Jesuit order, who got his name from the Spanish-Basque village where he was born. His birthplace was Javier, the name of which was derived from the Basque place name Etxeberria, meaning "castle" or "new house."

Xander is a diminutive of Alexander, the Latin variation of the Greek Alexandros. Its meaning, "defending men," is taken from the Greek roots aléxein, "to defend," and andros, "men." Zander, pronounced the same way, is an alternate spelling.

The two X's may be a challenge for even the most intrepid baby namer. Xerxes was the name of two early kings of Persia and the Handel opera Serse or Xerxes is loosely based on Xerxes I.

Traditionally, Xolani is a masculine Zulu name stemming from the word "uxolo", which means peace and goodwill. Beware – in this case, the X is pronounced as a one of the famous Zulu clicking sounds rather than the "z" or "sh" sound you might expect.

Spelt Xanthos in Greek, this alternate name for Apollo has a noble sound (pronounced ZHAN-thus) and can always be shortened to Xan.

Ximen is not, as many think, the Spanish variation of Simon. It is derived from the medieval Basque name Semen (emphasis on the second syllable, but still completely unusable in the English-speaking world). It eventually gave way to many familiar Spanish names of today, including Jimeno and Ximena.

The Basque form of Salvador starts with the intriguing letter X, which is pronounced like a "sh" sound in the Basque language. Xabat is a great Basque heritage choice, but we must note that it sounds almost identical to the word "Shabbat", the Jewish day of rest.

With the plethora of Alexes around, Xan (and Xander) have emerged as hot new nicknames for Alexander. Xan also stands well on its own. It can be found--not surprisingly--in several computer games.