Meaning and history
Alexander is the Latinized form of the Greek name Ἀλέξανδρος (Alexandros), meaning “defending men” from Greek ἀλέξω (alexo), “to defend, help,” and ἀνήρ (aner), “man.” In Greek mythology it was another name for the hero Paris, and it appears in the New Testament as well, but its best-known bearer was Alexander the Great, king of Macedon, who in the 4th century BC created a vast empire including Greece, Egypt, Persia, and parts of India. His fame, along with later medieval stories about him, helped spread the name across Europe, where it has been used by kings of Scotland, Poland, and Yugoslavia, emperors of Russia, and eight popes, as well as notable figures such as Alexander Pope, Alexander Hamilton, Alexander MacKenzie, Alexander Pushkin, and Alexander Graham Bell.
20062006: 18,235 births, rank #12
2007: 18,150 births, rank #11
2008: 18,711 births, rank #6
2009: 18,254 births, rank #4
2010: 16,769 births, rank #6
20112011: 15,717 births, rank #8
2012: 15,259 births, rank #9
2013: 14,923 births, rank #8
2014: 15,449 births, rank #8
2015: 14,584 births, rank #8
20162016: 13,446 births, rank #11
2017: 12,577 births, rank #13
2018: 12,110 births, rank #11
2019: 11,327 births, rank #10
2020: 10,268 births, rank #10
20212021: 9,425 births, rank #13
2022: 8,757 births, rank #17
2023: 7,918 births, rank #22
2024: 7,547 births, rank #27
20252025: 7,230 births, rank #30
Alexander has made a dramatic comeback. After first appearing in the US records in 1880, it fell to #233 by 1959, before climbing to #30 in 2025. Its highest annual birth count came in 1993, with 20,530 births.