Alexander

== English == === Etymology === Borrowed from Latin Alexander, from Ancient Greek Ἀλέξανδρος (Aléxandros), from ἀλέξω (aléxō, “to defend”) + ἀνδρ- (andr-), the stem of ἀνήρ (anḗr, “man”). Doublet of Alastair, Alejandro, Iskandar, Sikandar, Alessandro, and Alexandre. === Pronunciation === (General American) IPA(key): /ˌælɪɡˈzændɚ/ (æ-raising, rhotic) IPA(key): [ˌælɪɡˈzeəndɚ] (æ-raising, non-rhotic) IPA(key): [ˌælɪɡˈzeəndə] (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌalɪɡˈzɑːndə/ Hyphenation: Al‧ex‧an‧der Rhymes: -ɑːndə(ɹ), -ændə(ɹ) === Proper noun === Alexander (plural Alexanders) A male given name from Ancient Greek, most famously held by Alexander the Great. A Scottish surname originating as a patronymic, anglicized from Scottish Gaelic Mac Alasdair (“son of Alexander”). A place in the United States: A city in Pulaski County and Saline County, Arkansas. An unincorporated community in Burke County, Georgia; named for early settler Hugh Alexander. A minor city in Franklin County, Iowa. A minor city in Rush County, Kansas; named for early settler Alexander Harvey. A town in Washington County, Maine; named for British politician and financier Alexander Baring, 1st Baron Ashburton. A town and village therein, in Genesee County, New York; named for early settler Alexander Rea. A minor city in McKenzie County, North Dakota; named for early North Dakota politician Alexander McKenzie. An unincorporated community in Upshur County, West Virginia; named for local lumber businessman John M. Alexander. A rural municipality in eastern Manitoba, Canada. A community in the Rural Municipality of Whitehead, Manitoba, Canada; named for early settler Alexander Speers. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== Alexandra and its variants shorter forms such as Alex, Sandy or Xander ==== Translations ==== ==== Trivia ==== In one particular historical anecdote, when a cowardly soldier was brought before Alexander the Great, the king asked his name. Upon hearing that the deserter was also named Alexander, the ruler famously commanded: "Then you will either change your behavior, or you will change your name." === Noun === Alexander (plural Alexanders) Alternative letter-case form of alexander. Ellipsis of bord Alexander. === References === === Anagrams === Alexandre == Czech == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): [ˈalɛksandr̩] === Proper noun === Alexander m anim a male given name, equivalent to English Alexander ==== Declension ==== === Further reading === “Alexander”, in Akademický slovník současné češtiny, 2012–2026, slovnikcestiny.cz “Alexander”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026 == Danish == === Proper noun === Alexander a male given name, equivalent to English Alexander ==== Related terms ==== (male given names:) Alex (female forms:) Alexandra, Sandra, Sascha == Dutch == === Etymology === From Ancient Greek Ἀλέξανδρος (Aléxandros). === Pronunciation === === Proper noun === Alexander m a male given name from Ancient Greek, equivalent to English Alexander ==== Related terms ==== Alexandra Sander == German == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): [ˌalɛˈksandɐ] Hyphenation: A‧le‧xan‧der === Proper noun === Alexander a male given name, feminine equivalent Alexandra or Sandra, equivalent to English Alexander; diminutive forms Alex, Sandro, Sascha == Hungarian == === Etymology === Borrowed from Latin Alexander, from Ancient Greek Ἀλέξανδρος (Aléxandros). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): [ˈɒlɛksɒndɛr] Rhymes: -ɛr Hyphenation: Ale‧xan‧der Syllabification: A‧le‧xan‧der === Proper noun === Alexander a male given name from Ancient Greek ==== Declension ==== == Icelandic == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): [ˈaːlɛkˌsantɛr] === Proper noun === Alexander m (proper noun, genitive singular Alexanders) a male given name, equivalent to English Alexander ==== Declension ==== ==== Related terms ==== variants: Alex female forms: Alexandra, Sandra == Latin == === Alternative forms === Alexandrus (hapax legomenon) === Etymology === Borrowed from Ancient Greek Ἀλέξανδρος (Aléxandros), from ἀλέξω (aléxō, “to defend”) +‎ ἀνδρός (andrós, genitive of ἀνήρ (anḗr, “man”)). === Pronunciation === (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [a.ɫɛkˈsan.dɛr] (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [a.leɡˈzan.der] === Proper noun === Alexander m (genitive Alexandrī); second declension a masculine praenomen ==== Declension ==== Second-declension noun (nominative singular in -er). ==== Descendants ==== Corsican: Lisandru Emilian: Alessander ⇒ Emilian: Alesànder Italian: Alessandro Sicilian: Alissantru Ligurian: Lusciandro Lombard: Lissander Old Navarro-Aragonese: → Asturian: Aleixandre Neapolitan: Alessandro Old French: AlixandreFrench: Alexandre→ Breton: Aleksandr, AlesantNorman: Alexandre Old Leonese: Asturian: Xandru, Alexandru Extremaduran: Alejandru Mirandese: Alxandre Old Occitan: Catalan: Alexandre Occitan: Alexandre Old Galician-Portuguese: AlexandreGalician: AlexandrePortuguese: Alexandre, Alexandro→ Vietnamese: Alexanđê Old Spanish: Ladino: Aleksandro Spanish: Alejandro, Alexandro→ Basque: Alexandro→ Cebuano: Alejandro→ English: Alejandro→ Ilocano: Alehandro→ Tagalog: Alejandro→ Waray-Waray: Alejandro Piedmontese: Lissànder Rhaeto-Romance: Friulian: Lissandri Sardinian: Lisandru Sicilian: Lisciànniru Venetan: Lisandru → Albanian: Aleksandër → Alemannic German: Alexander ⇒ Alemannic German: Xandi → Aromanian: Alexandru → Basque: Alesander → Bengali: আলেকজান্ডার (alekojanḍar) → Dutch: Alexander Afrikaans: Alexander → English: Alexander Jamaican Creole: Aligzanda → Chinese: Cantonese: 亞歷山大 / 亚历山大 (aa3 lik6 saan1 daai6) Mandarin: 亞歷山大 / 亚历山大 (Yàlìshāndà) Eastern Min: 亞歷山大 / 亚历山大 (Ā-lĭk-săng-dâi) → Vietnamese: A Lịch Sơn → Hawaiian: Alekanekelo → Estonian: Aleksander → Faroese: Aleksandur, Alexandur → Finnish: Aleksanteri → German: Alexander → Hebrew: אלכסנדר (aleksánder) → Hungarian: Alexander ⇒ Hungarian: Sándor → Icelandic: Alexander → Korean: 알렉산더 (Alleksandeo) → Latvian: Aleksandrs → Limburgish: Alexander → Lithuanian: Aleksándras → Livvi: Aleksanderi → Low German: Alexander → North Frisian: Alexander → Norwegian: Alexander → Old Danish: Alexander Danish: Aleksander, Alexander → Greenlandic: Alegsantere, Alassanteri, Aleksantare, Alexandari → Old Irish: AlaxanderIrish: AlastarManx: AlistairScottish Gaelic: Alasdair, Alastair→ English: Alastair, Alistair, Allistair, Allistaire, Allister, Alastor→ Scots: Alistair → Old Swedish: Alesant, Alefant, Alexander, Alesantar, Alinsant, Alinsanter, Allexander, Allexandher, Halsand Swedish: Alexander, Aleksander → Polish: Aleksander → Romanian: Alexandru → Samogitian: Aleksėndra → Scots: Elshinder, Elshinner → Silesian: Aleksander → Slovene: Aleksander → Saterland Frisian: Alexander → Swedish: Alexander → Thai: อเล็กซานเดอร์ (alèksaanáde) → Uzbek: Aleksandr → Veps: Alexandr → Võro: Aleksandri → Welsh: Alecsander → West Frisian: Aleksander → Yiddish: אַלעקסאַנדער (aleksander) → Zealandic: Alexander → Zhuang: Ahlijsanda === References === “Alexander”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press == Norwegian Bokmål == === Alternative forms === Aleksander === Etymology === Learned borrowing from Latin Alexander (“male given name”), from Ancient Greek Ἀλέξανδρος (Aléxandros)., from Ancient Greek Ἀλέξανδρος (Aléxandros), traditionally analysed as ἀλέξω (aléxō, “to ward off, defend”) and ἀνήρ (anḗr, “man”), genitive ἀνδρός (andrós), hence “defender of men” or “protector of men”. The surname is derived from the given name. Compare Danish Alexander, Swedish Alexander, Icelandic Alexander, English Alexander and German Alexander (“male given name”). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /a.lɛkˈsan.dər/ Rhymes: -andər Homophone: Aleksander Hyphenation: A‧lex‧an‧der === Proper noun === Alexander a male given name from Latin [in turn from Ancient Greek], equivalent to English Alexander a surname transferred from the given name [in turn from Latin, in turn from Ancient Greek], derived from the male given name Alexander ==== Usage notes ==== The Norwegian name calendar lists the spelling Aleksander on 18 March; Alexander is not separately listed. Alexander became especially popular in Norway during the late 20th century, with its strongest period around 1990. ==== Derived terms ==== Alex (“short form”) Sander (“short form”) Alexandra (“feminine form”) Alexandersen (“patronymic surname”) ==== Statistics ==== According to Statistics Norway, 12,422 people in Norway had Alexander as their sole or first given name as of 31 December 2025. According to Statistics Norway, 127 people in Norway bore Alexander as a surname as of 31 December 2025. === References === “Alexander” in Store norske leksikon “Alexander” at Nordic Names Alexander on Wikipedia.Wikipedia Aleksander on the Norwegian Wikipedia.Wikipedia no === Anagrams === Alexandre == Old English == === Etymology === From Latin Alexander, from Ancient Greek Ἀλέξανδρος (Aléxandros) === Proper noun === Alexander m Alexander the Great late 9th century, translation of Orosius’ History Against the Pagans Wonders of the East ==== Declension ==== Strong a-stem: == Portuguese == === Etymology === Unadapted borrowing from English Alexander. Doublet of Alexandre and Alessandro. === Proper noun === Alexander m a male given name == Scots == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): [ˈalɛksandər] === Proper noun === Alexander a male given name from Ancient Greek, equivalent to English Alexander ==== Derived terms ==== (diminutive) Aleck, Eck, Eckie, Sandy, Saundy, Sawnie, Sawney, Sanders, Saunders, Sannock, Sannag, Sannagie === See also === Elshinder Elshinner Alistair == Slovak == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /aleksander/, [ˈaleksander] Rhymes: -ander Hyphenation: A‧le‧xan‧der Homophone: alexander === Proper noun === Alexander m pers (diminutive Alinko or Šaňko) a male given name, equivalent to English Alexander ==== Declension ==== ==== Derived terms ==== === Further reading === “Alexander”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2026 == Spanish == === Etymology === Unadapted borrowing from English Alexander. Doublet of Alejandro. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /aleɡˈsandeɾ/ [a.leɣ̞ˈsãn̪.d̪eɾ] Rhymes: -andeɾ Syllabification: A‧le‧xan‧der IPA(key): /alɪɡˈseəndɚ/ [alɪɣ̞ˈseən̪d̪ɚ] Rhymes: -eəndɚ IPA(key): /ˈælɪɡseəndɚ/ [ˈælɪɣ̞seən̪d̪ɚ] Rhymes: -eəndɚ === Proper noun === Alexander m a male given name == Swedish == === Etymology === Equivalent to English Alexander. First recorded in Sweden (Scania) in 1201. === Pronunciation === === Proper noun === Alexander c (genitive Alexanders) a male given name ==== Related terms ==== (male given names) Alex (female names) Alexandra, Sandra (surnames) Alexandersson === References === Roland Otterbjörk: Svenska förnamn, Almqvist & Wiksell 1996, →ISBN [2] Statistiska centralbyrån and Sture Allén, Staffan Wåhlin, Förnamnsboken, Norstedts 1995, →ISBN: 70 150 males with the given name Alexander living in Sweden on December 31st, 2010, with the frequency peak in the 1990s. Accessed on 19 June 2011.