Classic Boys’ Names: The Alexandrians from Alex to Xander
By Linda Rosenkrantz
There are several girls’ names—Mary, Margaret, Elizabeth, Katherine—that have spawned copious numbers of female variations and nicknames, as have boys like John and William, but there is one name whose progeny has embraced both genders, and that name is Alexander.
In 2013, there were 19 forms of Alexander on the Social Security list—almost split between boys and girls, and that doesn’t count names like the Scottish Alistair, which was Number 181 on Nameberry, or newcomer nicknames Xan and Zan. Enough for a two-part blog. Today, it’s gentlemen first.
Alexander the Great still rules over his dominion– a Top 10 name at Number 8. Always expecially favored in Scotland, it reached the US Top 10 in 2008, peaking at Number 4 in 2009, when 18,211 boys were given the name, which has been on the list since records have been published. And its presence is felt worldwide, from Albania (Aleksandër) to Ethiopia (Eskender) to Malta (Lixandru) to Vietnam (Alêchx?ngdro).
According to Greek legend, the first Alexander was Paris, who was given that as a nickname by the shepherds whose flocks he defended against robbers, hence the meaning “defender of men.” It was the Macedonian King Alexander III who earned the title Alexander the Great, as the creator of one of the vastest empires in ancient history. It was then borne by a number of Scottish kings and Russian royals, several saints and 8 popes, an American Founding Father (Hamilton), the inventor of the telephone (Graham Bell) and the discoverer of penicillin (Fleming).
Celebrity parents of Alexanders include Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber (theirs is known as Sasha), Lauren Holly, Ray Romano, Wolfgang Puck, and the fashionable Tom Ford and Nina Garcia.
Alex and Alec are Alexander’s two most common nicknames, and both have long been used independently, with Alex ranking now at 110 for boys, as high as 47 in 1996; it is also used for girls., when it’s sometime spelled Alix. Alec, currently represented by Alec Baldwin was in the past more popular abroad (Alec Guinness, Alec Waugh), is now at 453, down close to 300 places since its year 2000 high. Since it’s single-sex and less common, we think Alec sounds fresher than Alex.
Alejandro and Alessandro, the eternally romantic Spanish and Italian versions, both appear on the American list, the first at Number 165, the latter at 630. Alejandro is a Latino classic– recently in the news was Mexican Oscar-winning Birdman director Alejandro González Iñárritu, and Lady Gaga had a hit with the song ‘Alejandro.’Alessandro has ranked here since 1998; its nickname Sandro is often used on its own, another shortened form is Alessio. Alessandro is the first name of the great painter Botticelli and the composer Scarlatti.
Xander and Zander—Coming in at 219 and 230 respectively, these are the newest arrivals to the clan, with the last two syllables now taking precedence over the first. Xander, on the list since 1999, was first noticed as the nom de show of the character Alexander Lavelle Harris on the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, starting in 1997, followed by Vin Diesel’s character Xander Cage on the XXX films, has also been a Power Ranger, and teen Dana Brody’s boyfriend on Homeland. Mad Men star January Jones named her son Xander Dane.
The phonetic spelling Zander popped onto the list in 2000, starting a rapid climb, and was used by Good Charlotte guitarist Billy Martin for his son. The even shorter Xan and Zen are now used independently.
Alexis comes in at Number 294 for boys, though it’s quite a bit more popular for their sisters. It stems from the Greek Alexios and was the name of an ancient Greek comic poet as well as several saints. Alexis Denisof, who has Russian heritage, was seen in Buffy and other Joss Whedon. Projects. Alexei is another variant.
Alistair—Never on the US list, the Scottish version of Alexander is, nevertheless, Number 181 for the Nameberries. Spelled variously Alasdair, Alastair, Alasdair, Alistar, Alastar, and Alister, it has been used in Scotland since the 17th century and still ranks high in Scotland and England and Wales. Rod Stewart used it for his son, and Alistair is a demon on the show Supernatural.
Sasha—The long-term Russian unisex nickname for Aleksandr is now used 90% for girls in the US, though it was chosen for the sons of Chris Hemsworth and, more recently, Shakira and Gerard Piqué. It’s also spelled Sacha, as in Baron Cohen, and Sascha.
Sandor—The classic Hungarian version is pronounced SHAN-dor. Sandor Clegane is a character in the Game of Thrones series.
Lex—Another trendy short form of Alexander. Superman’s clever archenemy Lex Luthor was indeed born Alexander Joseph. And Dex takes it one step further.
Stay tuned for the female side of the family, coming up soon.
What’s your favorite form of Alexander?