Namewise

Alexander

maleGreek

Commonly interpreted as 'defender of men' or 'protector of the people'.

Origin: Greek — From 'Alexandros'.

Alexander, of Greek origin, commonly interpreted as "Commonly interpreted as 'defender of men' or 'protector of the people'.".

Official popularity data is available for 8 regions, from 1948 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #8 in New South Wales, Australia in 2014. See regions.

al-ig-ZAN-der/ˌælɪɡˈzændər/Audio not yet available.

Data Confidence

Evidence: HighCompleteness: CompleteEditorial review: 2026-06-15

Confidence in the evidencebehind this name's data — never a rating of the name itself, and never affected by how well it matches your preferences. How this is assessed

Because: backed by officially or academically authoritative sources, recently verified, most expected sections are populated, popularity data covers multiple regions.

Source authority

Averaged from the real per-claim source-authority assessments already computed for this name's meaning/origin/pronunciation/popularity evidence.

Independent corroboration

Averaged from the real per-claim supporting-source counts already computed for this name's evidence.

See full evidence assessment (8 dimensions, 1 not yet tracked)
Source agreement

No recorded source disagreement for this name's meanings or origins.

Recency

Calculated from how long ago this record was last verified (2026-06-15), against a 270-day staleness threshold.

Geographic relevance

Calculated from the number of regions with popularity data (8) — broader regional coverage means the evidence base is relevant to more of where the name is actually used.

Completeness

Calculated from how many of the expected data sections (variants, similar names, popularity, notable usage, IPA pronunciation) are actually populated for this name.

Direct observation vs. inference

Averaged from the real per-claim direct-observation-vs-inference ratios already computed for this name's evidence.

Identity & variant resolution quality

Cross-source identity and variant resolution requires HEKNO Knowledge, which isn't connected yet.

Name Characteristics

How these are calculated

Descriptive attributes of the name itself — not a confidence measurement, and not an overall quality score. Namewise doesn't approve or disapprove of names.

Pronunciation clarity

Editorial judgement of how consistently this name is pronounced correctly on first read, mapped from an easy/moderate/variable rating to a number. Describes the name — not a measure of evidence confidence.

Spelling simplicity

Calculated directly from the name's spelling: shorter names with fewer irregular letter clusters score higher. A disclosed formula, not an editorial opinion — and not a confidence measurement.

Regional familiarity

Editorial judgement of how familiar this name is in its primary region of use today.

International familiarity

Editorial judgement of how easily this name travels across languages and borders.

Trend stability

Derived from the name's traditional/modern classification and its current popularity trend direction.

Overview

Origin
Greek
Meaning
Commonly interpreted as 'defender of men' or 'protector of the people'.
Pronunciation
al-ig-ZAN-der
Syllables
4
Common nicknames
Alex, Xander, Sasha
Classification
traditional
Gender usage
male
Language family
Greek

Popularity

Trend unknownEngland and Wales (male) rank from 2024 to 2024, ranging from #36 to #36.2024#36#36
View as table
England and Wales rank by year
YearRank
2024#36

Demonstration dataSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

See full popularity history and data table

Meaning & Origin

Commonly interpreted as 'defender of men' or 'protector of the people'.

Demonstration dataSource: Namewise editorial team, Behind the Name.Confidence: medium.

Greek

From 'Alexandros'.

Demonstration dataSource: Namewise editorial team, Behind the Name.Confidence: medium.

Variants

  • Alex · nickname
  • Xander · nickname
  • Sasha · nickname
  • Alessandro · regional
Oliver11% similar

Both are long-running classic choices with strong literary and historical associations.

Magnus4% similar

Both carry strong historical/regal associations and a 'strength' meaning theme.

Similarity is a demonstration score — see methodology.

Spelling

Spelling simplicity

Calculated directly from the name's spelling — see Name Characteristics above.

No commonly used alternate spellings recorded.

Pronunciation

al-ig-ZAN-der/ˌælɪɡˈzændər/Audio not yet available.
Syllables
4
Ease
moderate

Demonstration dataSource: Namewise editorial team.Confidence: low.

Regional Use

GBUS

Notable Usage

No safely-sourced notable usage recorded for this name yet.

Sibling & Surname Compatibility

Entirely local — nothing you type here is saved or sent anywhere.

Full sibling-set and initials-across-a-shortlist matching is a planned premium feature — see Premium.