Alexander

Alexander is a male given name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.

Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Aleksander and Aleksandr. Related names and diminutives include Iskandar, Alec, Alek, Alex, Alexandre, Aleks, Aleksa, Alasdair, Sasha, and Sander; feminine forms include Alexandra, Alexandria, and Sasha.

Etymology
The name Alexander originates from the  (; 'defending men' or 'protector of men'). It is a compound of the verb  (; 'to ward off, avert, defend') and the noun  (, genitive: , ;  meaning 'man'). It is an example of the widespread motif of Greek names expressing "battle-prowess", in this case the ability to withstand or push back an enemy battle line.

The earliest attested form of the name, is the Mycenaean Greek feminine anthroponym , , (/Alexandra/), written in the Linear B syllabic script. Alaksandu, alternatively called Alakasandu or Alaksandus, was a king of Wilusa who sealed a treaty with the Hittite king Muwatalli II ca. 1280 BC; this is generally assumed to have been a Greek called Alexandros.

The name was one of the epithets given to the Greek goddess Hera and as such is usually taken to mean "one who comes to save 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, commonly known as "Alexander the Great". Most later Alexanders in various countries were directly or indirectly named after him.

People known as Alexander
Alexander has been the name of many rulers, including kings of Macedon, of Scotland, emperors of Russia and popes.

Rulers of antiquity

 Alexander (Alexandros of Ilion), more often known as Paris of Troy
 Alexander of Corinth, 10th king of Corinth (816–791 BC)
 Alexander I of Macedon
 Alexander II of Macedon
 Alexander III of Macedon, commonly known as Alexander the Great
 Alexander IV of Macedon
 Alexander V of Macedon
 Alexander of Pherae despot of Pherae between 369 and 358 BC
 Alexander I of Epirus king of Epirus about 342 BC
 Alexander II of Epirus king of Epirus 272 BC
 Alexander of Corinth, viceroy of Antigonus Gonatas and ruler of a rump state based on Corinth c. 250 BC
 Alexander (satrap) (died 220 BC), satrap of Persis under Seleucid king Antiochus III
 Alexander Balas, ruler of the Seleucid kingdom of Syria between 150 and 146 BC
 Alexander Zabinas, ruler of part of the Seleucid kingdom of Syria based in Antioch between 128 and 123 BC
 Alexander Jannaeus king of Judea, 103–76 BC
 Alexander of Judaea, son of Aristobulus II, king of Judaea
 Alexander Severus (208–235), Roman emperor
 Julius Alexander, lived in the 2nd century, an Emesene nobleman
 Domitius Alexander, Roman usurper who declared himself emperor in 308

Rulers of the Middle Ages

 Alexander, Byzantine Emperor (912–913)
 Alexander I of Scotland (c. 1078–1124)
 Alexander II of Scotland (1198–1249)
 Alexander Nevsky (1220–1263), Prince of Novgorod and Grand Prince of Vladimir
 Alexander III of Scotland (1241–1286)
 Nicholas Alexander of Wallachia, Voivode of Wallachia (died 1364)
 Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria, tsar of Bulgaria (beginnings of the 14th century – 1371)
 Aleksandr Mikhailovich of Tver, Prince of Tver as Alexander I and Grand Prince of Vladimir-Suzdal as Alexander II (1301–1339)
 Sikandar Khan Ghazi, Vizier of Sylhet (from 1303)
 Aleksander (1338–before 1386), Prince of Podolia (son of Narymunt)
 Sikandar Shah Miri, better known as Sikandar Butshikan ("Sikandar the Iconoclast"), sixth sultan of the Shah Miri dynasty of Kashmir (1353–1413)
 Sikandar Shah, Sultan of Bengal (1358–1390)
 Alexander II of Georgia (1483–1510)
 Alexandru I Aldea, ruler of the principality of Wallachia (1431–1436)
 Eskender, Emperor of Ethiopia (1472–1494)
 Alexander Jagiellon (Alexander of Poland), King of Poland (1461–1506)
 Nuruddin Sikandar Shah, Sultan of Bengal (1481)
 Alexandru Lăpuşneanu, Voivode of Moldavia (1499–1568)
 Sikandar Shah of Gujarat, ruler of Gujarat Sultanate (died 1526)
 Sikandar Shah Suri, Sur dynasty, Shah of Delhi (died 1559)
 Alexandru II Mircea, Voivode or Prince of Wallachia (1529–1577)

Modern rulers

 Alexander I of Russia (1777–1825), emperor of Russia
 Alexander II of Russia (1818–1881), emperor of Russia
 Alexander III of Russia (1845–1894), emperor of Russia
 Alexander Karađorđević, Prince of Serbia (1842–1858)
 Alexander of Bulgaria (1857–1893), first prince of modern Bulgaria
 Alexandru Ioan Cuza, first prince of unified Romania (1859–1866)
 Alexander I Obrenović of Serbia (1876–1903), king of Serbia
 Alexander, Prince of Lippe (1831–1905), prince of Lippe
 Alexander I of Yugoslavia (1888–1934), first king of Yugoslavia
 Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia (born 1945), head of the Yugoslav Royal Family
 Zog I, also known as Skenderbeg III (1895–1961), king of Albanians
 Alexander of Greece (1893–1920), king of Greece
 Leka, Crown Prince of Albania (1939–2011), king of Albanians (throne pretender)
 Willem-Alexander, King of the Netherlands (born 1967), eldest child of Queen Beatrix and Prince Claus

Other royalty

 Alexander, Judean Prince, one of the sons of Herod the Great from his wife Mariamne
 Alexander Helios, Ptolemaic prince, one of the sons of Cleopatra and Mark Anthony
 Alexander, Judean Prince, son to the above Alexander and Cappadocian princess Glaphyra
 Alexander (d. 1418), son of Bulgarian tsar Ivan Shishman
 Prince Alexander John of Wales (1871), short-lived son of Edward VII
 Prince Alexandre of Belgium (1942–2009)
 Prince Alfred of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1874–1899)
 Olav V of Norway (Prince Alexander of Denmark) (1903–1991)

Religious leaders

 Pope Alexander I (pope 97–105)
 Alexander of Apamea, 5th-century bishop of Apamea
 Pope Alexander II (pope 1058–1061)
 Pope Alexander III (pope 1159–1181)
 Pope Alexander IV (pope 1243–1254)
 Pope Alexander V ("Peter Philarges" c. 1339–1410)
 Pope Alexander VI (1492–1503), Roman pope
 Pope Alexander VII (1599–1667)
 Pope Alexander VIII (pope 1689–1691)
 Alexander of Constantinople, bishop of Constantinople (314–337)
 St. Alexander of Alexandria, Coptic Pope, Patriarch of Alexandria between 313 and 328
 Pope Alexander II of Alexandria, Coptic Pope (702–729)
 Alexander of Lincoln, bishop of Lincoln
 Alexander of Jerusalem
 See also Saint Alexander, various saints with this name

Other people

Antiquity

 Alexander (artists), the name of a number of artists of ancient Greece and Rome
 Alexander of Lyncestis (died 330 BC), contemporary of Alexander the Great
 Alexander (son of Polyperchon) (died 314 BC), regent of Macedonia
 Alexander (Antigonid general), 3rd-century BC cavalry commander under Antigonus III Doson
 Alexander of Athens, 3rd-century BC Athenian comic poet
 Alexander Aetolus (), poet and member of the Alexandrian Pleiad
 Alexander (son of Lysimachus) (), Macedonian royal
 Alexander (grandson of Seleucus I Nicator) (), Greek Anatolian nobleman
 Alexander (Aetolian general), briefly conquered Aegira in 220 BC
 Alexander of Acarnania (died 191 BC), confidante of Antiochus III the Great
 Alexander Isius (), Aetolian military commander
 Alexander Lychnus, early 1st-century BC poet and historian
 Alexander Philalethes, 1st century BC physician
 Alexander Polyhistor, Greek scholar of the 1st century BC
 Alexander of Myndus, ancient Greek writer on zoology and divination
 Alexander of Aegae, peripatetic philosopher of the 1st century AD
 Alexander of Cotiaeum, 2nd-century Greek grammarian and tutor of Marcus Aurelius
 Alexander Numenius, 2nd-century Greek rhetorician
 Alexander Peloplaton, 2nd-century Greek rhetorician
 Alexander of Abonoteichus (), Greek religious leader and imposter
 Alexander of Aphrodisias (), Greek commentator and philosopher
 Alexander of Lycopolis, 4th-century author of an early Christian treatise against Manicheans
 Alexander, a member of the Jerusalem Temple Sanhedrin mentioned in Acts 4:6

Middle Ages
 Alexander of Hales, English theologian in the 13th century

Modern
 Alexander (magician) (1880–1954), American stage magician specializing in mentalism

People with the given name
People with the given name Alexander or variants include:

 Technoblade (1999–2022), American YouTuber, real name Alexander, surname not made public
 Alexander Aigner (1909–1988), Austrian mathematician
 Alexander Albon (born 1996), Thai-British racing driver
 Aleksander Allila (born 1890), Finnish politician
 Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov (1883–1946), Russian composer
 Alexander Argov (1914–1995), Russian-born Israeli composer
 Alexander Armah (born 1994), American football player
 Alexander Armstrong (born 1970), British comedian and singer
 Aleksandr Averbukh (born 1974), Israeli pole vaulter
 Alex Baldock (born 1970), British businessman
 Alec Baldwin (born 1958), American actor
 Alexander Björk (born 1990), Swedish golfer
 Alexander Borodin (1833–1887), Russian composer
 Alexander Graham Bell (1847–1922), Scottish inventor of the first practical telephone
 Aleksander Barkov (born 1995), Finnish ice hockey player
 Alexander Calder (1898–1976), American sculptor best known for making mobiles
 Aleksandr Davidovich (disambiguation), several people
 Alexander Davidson (disambiguation), several people
 Alexander Day (disambiguation), several people
 Alexander Nicholas de Abrew Abeysinghe (1894–1963), Sri Lankan Sinhala politician
 Alex DeBrincat (born 1997), American ice hockey player
 Alexander Edmund de Silva Wijegooneratne Samaraweera Rajapakse (1866–1937), Sri Lankan Sinhala politician
 Aleksandar Djordjevic (born 1967), Serbian basketball player
 Alexander Dubček (1921–1992), leader of Czechoslovakia (1968–1969)
 Alex Ebert (born 1978), American singer-songwriter
 Alexander Lee Eusebio (born 1988), also known as Alexander or Xander, South Korean singer, member of U-KISS
 Alexander Exarch (1810–1891), Bulgarian revivalist, publicist and journalist, participant in the struggle for an independent Bulgarian Exarchate
 Alex Ferguson (born 1941), Scottish football player and manager
 Alexander Fleming (1881–1955), Scottish discoverer of penicillin
 Alexander Zusia Friedman (1897–1943), Polish rabbi, educator, activist, and journalist
 Aleksander Gabelic (born 1965), Swedish politician
 Alex Galchenyuk (born 1994), American ice hockey player
 Alexander Gardner (disambiguation), multiple people
 Alexander Glazunov (1865–1936), Russian composer
 Alexander Goldberg (born 1974), British rabbi, barrister, and human rights activist
 Alexander Goldberg (chemical engineer), Israeli chemical engineer and President of the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
 Alexander Goldscheider (born 1950), Czech/British composer, producer and writer
 Alexander Gomelsky (1928–2005), Russian head coach of USSR basketball national team for 30 years
 Alexander Gordon (disambiguation), several people
 Aleksandr Gordon (1931–2020), Russian-Soviet director, screenwriter and actor
 Aleksandr Gorelik (1945–2012), Soviet figure skater
 Alexander Gould (born 1994), American actor
 Alexander Grothendieck (1928–2014), German-born French mathematician
 Alexander Gustafsson (born 1987), Swedish mixed martial arts fighter
 Alexander Haig (1924–2010), American general and politician
 Alexander Hamilton (1755–1804), first United States Secretary of the Treasury and one of the founding fathers of the United States
 Alexander Hamilton Jr. (1786–1875), American attorney and son of Alexander Hamilton
 Alexander Hamilton Jr. (1816–1889), son of James Alexander Hamilton and grandson of Alexander Hamilton
 Alexander Held (born 1958), German actor
 Alexander Henn, German anthropologist
 Alexander Henry (1823–1883), mayor of Philadelphia
 Alex Higgins (1949–2010), Northern Irish snooker player
 Alexander Hollins (born 1996), American football player
 Alexander Holtz (born 2002), Swedish ice hockey player
 Alex Horne (born 1978), British comedian
 Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859), Prussian naturalist and explorer
 Alexander Ilečko (1937-2023), Slovak sculptor
 Alex Jones (born 1974), American radio show host and conspiracy theorist
 Aleksandr Kamshalov (1932–2019), Soviet politician
 Alex Kapranos (born 1972), Scottish musician, author, songwriter and producer, front-man of Franz Ferdinand
 Aleksandar Katai (born 1991), Serbian footballer
 Alexander Kerensky (1881–1970) leader of Russian Provisional Government
 Alexander Kerfoot (born 1994), Canadian ice hockey player
 Alex Killorn (born 1989), Canadian ice hockey player
 Alexander Klingspor (born 1977), Swedish painter and sculptor
 Aleksandr Kogan (born 1985/86), Moldovan-born American psychologist and data scientist
 Alexander Korda (1893–1956), Hungarian film director
 Alexander Kucheryavenko (born 1987), Russian ice hockey player
 Aleksander Kwaśniewski (born 1954), former President of Poland
 Alexander Levinsky (1910–1990), Canadian ice hockey player
 Alexander Ivanovich Levitov (1835–1877), Russian writer
 Alexander Lévy (born 1990), French golfer
 Alexandre Lippmann (1881–1960), French épée fencer
 Alexander Ludwig (born 1992), Canadian actor
 Alexander "Sandy" Lyle (born 1958), Scottish golfer
 Alexander Lukashenko (born 1954), President of Belarus
 Alex Manninger (born 1977), Austrian footballer
 Alessandro Manzoni (1785–1873), Italian poet and novelist
 Alexander "Ali" Marpet (born 1993), American football player
 Alexander Mattison (born 1998), American football player
 Alexander McClure (1828–1909), American politician, editor and writer
 Alexander Lyell McEwin (1897–1988), known as Lyell McEwin, Australian politician, Minister for Health 
 Alexander McQueen (1969–2010), British fashion designer and couturier
 Alexander Michel Melki (born 1992), Swedish-Lebanese footballer
 Alexander Mirsky (born 1964), Latvian politician
 Alexander Francis Molamure (1888–1951), 1st Speaker of the State Council of Ceylon and 1st Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka
 Alessandro Moreschi (1858–1922), Italian castrato singer
 Aleksandr Nikolayev (disambiguation), several people
 Alexander Nikolov (boxer) (born 1940), Bulgarian boxer
 Alex Norén (born 1982), Swedish golfer
 Alexander Nylander (born 1998), Swedish ice hockey player
 Alexander O'Neal (born 1953), American singer
 Alexander Ovechkin (born 1985), Russian hockey player
 Alexander Patch (1889–1945), American general during World War II
 Alexander Pechtold (born 1965), Dutch politician
 Alexander Penn (1906–1972), Israeli poet
 Alexander Perera Jayasuriya (1901–1980), Sri Lankan Sinhala MP and Cabinet Minister
 Alexander Pichushkin (born 1974), prolific Russian serial killer
 Alex Pietrangelo (born 1990), Canadian ice hockey player
 Alexander Piorkowski (1904–1948), German Nazi SS concentration camp commandant executed for war crimes
 Alexander Ponomarenko (born 1964), Russian billionaire businessman
 Alexander Pope (1688–1744), English poet
 Alexander Popov (disambiguation), several people
 Alexander Ptushko (1900–1973), Russian film director
 Alexander Pushkin (1799–1837), Russian writer
 Alexander Radulov (born 1986), Russian ice hockey player
 Alexander Ragoza (1858–1919), Russian general in World War I
 Alexander Rendell (born 1990), Thai actor and singer
 Alex Rodriguez (born 1975), Major League Baseball star, won 3 AL MVP awards, also known as A-Rod
 Alexander Rou (1906–1973), Russian film director
 Alexander Rowe (born 1992), Australian athlete
 Alexander Rudolph ("Al McCoy"; 1894–1966), American boxer
 Alexander Rybak (born 1986), Belarusian-born Norwegian artist and violinist
 Alexander Salkind (1921–1997), French film producer
 Alexander Scriabin (1872–1915), Russian composer and pianist
 Alexander Selkirk (1676–1721), Scottish privateer and Royal Navy officer 
 Alexander Semin (born 1984), Russian hockey player
 Alexander Shatilov (born 1987), Uzbek-Israeli artistic gymnast
 Alexander Theodore "Sasha" Shulgin (1925–2014), American chemist, psychopharmacologist, and author
 Alexander Sieghart (born 1994), Thai footballer
 Alexander Skarsgård (born 1976), Swedish actor
 Alexander Stafford, British politician
 Alexander Stavenitz (1901–1960), Russian Empire-born American visual artist and educator
 Alexander Suvorov (1730–1800), Russian military leader, considered a national hero, Count of Rymnik, Count of the Holy Roman Empire, Prince of Italy, and the last Generalissimo of the Russian Empire
 Alexander McCall Smith (born 1948), Scottish writer
 Alexander Solonik (1960–1997), Russian murder victim
 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918–2008), Russian writer, Nobel laureate, Soviet dissident
 Alexander Steen (born 1984), Swedish ice hockey player
 Alexandre Texier (born 1999), French ice hockey player
 Alex Turner (born 1986), British musician, songwriter and producer, front-man of Arctic Monkeys and The Last Shadow Puppets
 Lex van Dam (born 1968), Dutch trader and TV personality
 Alexander Van der Bellen (born 1944), President of Austria
 Alexander Varchenko (born 1949), Russian mathematician
 Aleksander Veingold (born 1953), Estonian and Soviet chess player and coach
 Aleksandr Vlasov (disambiguation), several people
 Alexander Volkanovski (born 1988), UFC Fighter
 Alessandro Volta (1745–1827), Italian physicist
 Alexander Wennberg (born 1994), Swedish ice hockey player
 Alexander Wilson (disambiguation), several people
 Alexander Wijemanne, Sri Lankan Sinhala lawyer and politician
 Alex Zanardi (born 1966), Italian racing driver and paracyclist
 Oleksandr Zubov (born 1983), Ukrainian chess player and Grandmaster
 Alexander Zverev (born 1997), German tennis player

In other languages

 Afrikaans: Alexander
 Albanian: Aleksandër
 Albanian diminutive: Leka
 Amharic: እስክንድር (Isikinidiri, Eskender)
 Arabic:  (Iskandar)
 Armenian: Ալեքսանդր (Aleksandr)
 Asturian: Alexandru, Xandru
 Azerbaijani: İsgəndər/Исҝәндәр/ایسگندر, Aleksandr/Александр/آلئکساندر
 Basque: Alesander
 Belarusian: Аляксандр (Aliaksandr), Алесь (Ales)
 Bengali: সিকান্দর (Sikandor)
 Bulgarian: Александър (Aleksandŭr), Сашко (Sashko)
 Catalan: Alexandre/Aleixandre
 Chinese:
 Historical:
 Traditional: , Simplified: , Baxter-Sagart: 
 Traditional and Simplified: , Baxter Romanization: 'a lejH sanH
 Contemporary: Traditional: , Simplified: , Pinyin: Yàlìshāndà, Jyutping: aa3 lik6 saan1 daai6, Wugniu: iá-liq-sé-da, BUC: Ā-lĭk-săng-dâi
 Czech: Alexandr, Alexander
 Danish: Aleksander, Alexander
 Dutch: Alexander
 Esperanto: Aleksandro
 Estonian: Aleksander
 English: Alexander 
 Finnish: Aleksanteri
 French: Alexandre 
 Galician: Alexandre
 Georgian: ალექსანდრე (Aleksandre)
 German: Alexander
 Greek
Mycenaean Greek: 𐀀𐀩𐀏𐀭𐀅𐀫 (Aléxandros)
Ancient Greek: Ἀλέξανδρος (Aléxandros)
 Koine Greek: Ἀλέξανδρος (Aléxandros)
 Modern Greek: Αλέξανδρος (Aléxandros)
 Hawaiian: Alekanekelo
 Hebrew: אלכסנדר (Aleksander)
 Hindi: सिकंदर (Sikandar)
 Hungarian: Sándor, Alexander, Elek 
 Icelandic: Alexander
 Indonesian: Iskandar
 Irish: Alastar
 Italian: Alessandro
 Japanese: アレキサンダー (Arekisandā)
 Korean: 알렉산더 (Alleksandeo)
 Kazakh: Искандер (Iskander)
 Kyrgyz: Искендер (Iskender)
 Latin: Alexander 
 Latvian: Aleksandrs
 Lithuanian: Aleksandras
 Macedonian: Александар (Aleksandar), Сашко (Sashko, Saško)
 Malay: Iskandar
 Malayalam 
 Syriac Origin : ചാണ്ടി (t͡ʃaːɳʈI), ഇടിക്കുള (IʈIkkʊɭa) 
 Greek Origin : അലക്സിയോസ് (alaksIyos), അലക്സി (alaksI) 
 Anglican Origin : അലക്സാണ്ടര്‍ (alaksa:ndar), അലക്സ് (alaks)
 Mongolian: Александр (Alyeksandr)
 Norwegian: Aleksander, Alexander
 Pashto: سکندر (Sikandar)
 Persian:  (Aleksânder),  (Eskandar)
 Polish: Aleksander
 Portuguese: Alexandre, Alexandro, Alessandro, Leandro
 Punjabi: Sikandar
 Romanian: Alexandru, Alex, Sandu
 Russian: Александр (Aleksandr), Саша (Sasha)
 Rusyn: Александер (Aleksander)
 Sanskrit: अलक्षेन्द्र (Alakṣendra)
 Scottish: Alasdair, Alastair, Alistair, Alister
 Serbo-Croatian: Александар / Aleksandar
 Slovak: Alexander
 Slovene: Aleksander
 Spanish: Alejandro
 Swedish: Alexander
 Tagalog: Alejandro
 
 Turkish: İskender
 Ukrainian: Олександр (Oleksandr, sometimes anglicized Olexander), Сашко (Sashko), Олесь (Oles), Олелько (Olelko)
 Urdu: سکندر (Sikandar)
 Valencian: Alecsandro, Aleksandro, Aleixandre, Alexandre
 Vietnamese: Alexander, A Lịch San
 Welsh: Alexander
 Yiddish: אלעקסאנדער (Aleksander)

Variants and diminutives
 Al
 Ale
Alex
Alexey
Xander
Sasha/Sash
Alexsander
 Alixander

See also
Alex (disambiguation)
Alexandra
Justice Alexander (disambiguation)
Alexander (surname)

Hera Alexandros, epithet of the Greek goddess Hera

References

Armenian masculine given names
Czech masculine given names
Danish masculine given names
Dutch masculine given names
English-language masculine given names
English masculine given names
German masculine given names
Irish masculine given names
Given names of Greek language origin
Masculine given names
Norwegian masculine given names
Russian masculine given names
Slavic masculine given names
Swedish masculine given names
Welsh masculine given names
Welsh given names