Greek alexein, "to defend", and aner, "man" — defender of men. Alexander the Great carried the name from Macedonia to the Indus, and it took root in every language he passed.
Alexander ranks 30th among American boys in 2025, with 7,244 born that year. Its best year was 1993, when 20,708 babies were given the name, ranking 21st. The typical living American called Alexander is about 24 years old today. It is relatively most common in Alaska, where it accounts for 0.54% of births.
Source: US Social Security Administration, national and state name files, 2025 release, and the Office for National Statistics for England and Wales. Etymology researched and written by our editors. Living-population and median-age figures are our own estimates, described in the methodology.