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This article is about the male first name. For other uses, see Alexander (disambiguation).

Alexander
Given Name


Alexander the Great
Gender Male
Meaning Protector of man
Origin Greek
Wikipedia articles All pages beginning with Alexander
Look up Alexander in
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Alexander is a common male first name.

Contents

Origin

The name in English is taken from the Greek name Ἀλέξανδρος (Alexandros). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb ἀλέξειν (alexein) "to defend" and the noun ἀνδρός (andros), genitive of ἀνήρ (anēr) "man". Thus it may be roughly translated as "protector of man".123

The earliest attested record of the name is the Mycenaean Greek of the feminine Alexandra, written in Linear B.45

The name was one of the titles ("epithets") given to the Greek goddess Hera and as such is usually taken to mean "one who comes to the aid of warriors". In the Iliad, the character Paris is known also as Alexander. The name's popularity was spread throughout the Greek world by the military conquests of King Alexander III of Macedonia, commonly known as "Alexander the Great". Most later Alexanders in various countries were directly or indirectly named for him.

In Russia, the name was uncommon until the time of Tsar Alexander I, due to whom it became one of the most common of Russian first names and gained a considerable number of Russian variations and abbreviations (see below).

Variants and diminutives

  • Albanian – Aleksandër, Aleks, Leka, Sandri, Skënder
  • Amharic – Eskender
  • Arabic – الاسكندر / اسكندر (Iskandar), Skandar, Skender
  • Belarusian – Аляксандp (Aliaksandr), Алeсь (Aleś)
  • Bulgarian - Александър (Aleksandar), Сашо (Sasho), Aлекс (Aleks)
  • Catalan – Alexandre, Àlex, Xandre
  • Corsican - Lisandru
  • Czech - Alexandr
  • Dutch - Alexander, Sander
  • English – Alexander, Alec, Alex, Lex, Sandy, Andy, Alexis, Alexa, Alexandria, Alexandra, Sandra, Al, Sasha, Ali, Lexxi, Zander, Xander, Sashi, Eck
  • French - Alexandre, Alexis, Alex
  • Finnish - Aleksanteri, Santeri, Santtu
  • Galician – Alexandre, Álex
  • Georgian/ქართულად – ალექსანდრე (Alexandre), ალეკო (Aleko), ლექსო (Lekso), სანდრო (Sandro)
  • Greek - Αλέξανδρος
  • Hebrew – אלכסנדר (Alexander), אלכס (Alex)
  • Hindi – Hindustani – Sikandar
  • Hungarian – Sándor
  • Irish (Gaeilge) – Alasandar
  • Italian – Alessandro, Ale, Sandro, Alessio
  • Kurdish - Askander, Eskander
  • Kyrgyz – Искендер (İskender)
  • Latvian – Aleksandrs (Aleksandrs)
  • Macedonian - Александар (Aleksandar), Алек (Alek), Ацо (Aco), Аце (Ace), Сашо (Sasho),
  • Malay – Iskandar
  • Malayalam – ചാണ്ടി (Chandy)
  • Maltese – Lixandru
  • Norwegian – Aleksander
  • Persian – اسكندر (Eskandar)
  • Polish - Aleksander, Alek, Olek, Aleks
  • Portuguese – Alexandre, Alexandra (feminine), Alexandro (rare), Xana (feminine), Alex, Xande, Sandro, Sandra (feminine), Sandrina (feminine), Alessandro, Alessandra (feminine)
  • Romanian — Alexandru, Alexandra (feminine), Alex, Sandu, Sanda (feminine), Sandra (feminine), Alecu, Aleca (feminine), Sasa (feminine)
  • Russian — Александр (Aleksandr), Саша (Sasha), Шура (Shura), Саня (Sanya), Шурик (Shurik), Сашок (Sashok), Алик (Alik)
  • Sanskrit language – Alekchendra
  • Scots Gaelic – Alasdair, Alastair, Alistair, Alisdair
  • Slovenian - Aleksander, Aleks, Sandi, Sašo
  • Serbian - Александар (Aleksandar), Алекса (Aleksa), Алекс (Aleks), Саша (Sasa), Сале (Sale)
  • Spanish - Alejandro, Alejo, Alex, Jandro, Jano
  • Tamil language – Aleksandar
  • Turkish – İskender
  • Ukrainian — Олександр (Olexandr, Oleksandr), Сашко (Sashko), Олесь (Oles')
  • Urdu – Hindustani – Sikandar
  • Urdu – Pakistani – Sikander ("Sikander-e-Azam" is "Alexander the Great")
  • Uzbek – Iskandar
  • Yiddish – סענדער – Sender, Senderl

Alexander as a given name

Monarchs

Antiquity

Middle Ages

Modern

Religious leaders

Other people


A few other princes have borne the name Alexander:

Alexander as a surname

Fictional people with the name Alexander

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=alexander
  2. ^ http://www.allwords.com/query.php?SearchType=3&Keyword=Alexander
  3. ^ http://www.behindthename.com/name/alexander
  4. ^ Mycenaean (Linear B) – English Glossary
  5. ^ The Mycenaean World, John Chadwick, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1976, 1999
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Slavic geographic names derived from the name Alexander
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