Xander

ZAN-der

Diminutive of Alexander, Greek

"defending men"

Xander Origin and Meaning

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

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.

One of the newer short forms of Alexander, Xander is a spelling that first saw the spotlight via Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and then as Vin Diesel's character in XXX. Mad Men star January Jones named her son Xander Dane.

Even shorter forms Xan and Zan are now also being used on their own. Xan is a character in the P. D. James novel The Children of Men and is a favorite choice of computer game creators.

Xander Rank in US Top 1000

# 216 in the US

Xander Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 336 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Xander

• 216 US 2024
• 336 Nameberry 2025
• 128 Future 2028
• 178 England 2023
• 180 Scotland 2024

20 Names Similar to Xander

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Xander.

• Zane
• Zander
• Axel
• Kane
• Jace
• Xavier
• Damon
• Ashton
• Maverick
• Ryder
• Zayn
• Niko
• Zion
• Malakai
• Hunter
• Ryker
• Roman
• Zayne
• Maddox
• Matteo

Famous People Named Xander

• Xander Yan Bogaerts Aruban baseball player
• Alexander Harper "Xander" Berkeley American actor
• Alexander "Xander" Rawlins English singer,songwriter
• Xander Corvus American actor
• Xander Theodore Shanxi Kostroma Welsh fashion designer
• Alexander "Xander" Angeles Filipino fashion photographer
• Xander Parish English ballet dancer
• Xander McGuire (b. 2004) son of actor Eddie McGuire
• Xander Dane Jones (b. 2011) son of actress January Jones
• Xander Maximilian Perks (b. 2016) son of model Noelle Reno and Nick Perks

The name Xander in Pop Culture

• Jonathan Alexander (Xander) Emerson main male character in Scarlett Avery’s book “Delectably British”.
• Alexander Lavelle "Xander" Harris character on TV's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
• Xander Carrow character in the Matched trilogy by Ally Condie
• Xander (pronounced "Alexander") Spence character in "The Distance Between Us" by Kasie West
• Xander character in the Pandora series by Carolyn Hennesy
• Xander Clavell character in "The Sims 3" computer game
• Xander character in the video game Fire Emblem: Fates
• Xander character on TV's "Bunk'd"
• Xander Cage main protagonist in "xXx" movies series
• Xander Hale character in the Addicted Series
• Alexander "Xander" Hawthorne character in bestselling Inheritance Games series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes