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Gender: Male Pronunciation: ZAN-der Meaning of Xander: "defending men" Origin of Xander: Diminutive of Alexander, Greek Xander's Popularity in 2018: #171

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.

16 names similar to Xander

These 16 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Xander. If you didn't find an alternative name that you like better than Xander, try our name generator. It allows you to go beyond the similarities of a name, which can provide a lot of inspiration!

Find other names based on Xander using our baby name generator.

Lists containing Xander

Xander in Blog Posts

Popularity

Rank in US: #171
- this week

Famous People Named Xander

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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

Pop Culture References for the name Xander

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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

Nicknames & Variations for Xander

Zander, Xzander, Xande

Comments

stella2007 Says:

2017-02-08T19:02:07

Gorgeous name! It's very strong on its own, a bit fresher and more modern than Alexander. I pronounce it Zander. I've always loved names like Xander, Alexander, Evander, Zander. They are all masculine, cool yet have a sweetness to them. Such handsome names. I don't think of Xander as a nickname for Alexander, I think it's very sophisticated on its own. I like Zan or Zane for short.

Becky Mowery Says:

2016-12-24T17:50:42

That is how we pronounce my sons name. He's now almost 14 years old. I love it!

kxlly0614 Says:

2016-08-25T22:27:59

I love this name! It's so unique, and I love how it is spelled.

Yessica Says:

2016-03-22T01:37:28

X - Ander?

TaliaCat Says:

2015-01-26T21:28:35

Sexy, unusual, masculine name

jasminegarden Says:

2014-09-04T13:15:13

I am completely in love with this name! The Buffy character Xander Harris made me realise that it has the perfect combination of sweetness, feistiness and a strong will to stand on it's own. Although Xander Harris' full name was Alexander, and I don't really like people naming their children nicknames like Danny, Tommy or Sammy, there are a few short forms that I love, which I think stand really well on their own, and I intend to use the names Billy and Xander for my future sons (if I have any, which I really hope I do!) :)

Swim_Amore Says:

2014-08-02T23:56:35

Like the name, prefer the Z spelling.

WashingtonQueen Says:

2014-06-03T17:28:13

I named my son Xander. It stands perfectly on it's own. It's strong, handsome, and distinctive! <3

Sweekune Says:

2014-03-29T00:07:24

I would consign this to nickname territory as short for Alexander. That said, I love how this sounds and I think any young boy would be happy with this name.