Alexander

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This article is about the male first name. For other uses, see Alexander (disambiguation).
Alexander
Rubens - Judgement of Paris.jpg
Paris, depicted in this c. 1636 painting by Peter Paul Rubens making his famous judgment, was given the surname Alexander as a child when he routed a gang of cattle-thieves.
Pronunciation /ˈæləksˈændər/, /ˈæləksˈɑːndər/
Gender Masculine, the feminine variant being Alexandra.
Origin
Word/Name From the Latin Alexander, itself from the Greek Αλέξανδρος (Alexandros), from alexein meaning "to ward off, keep off, turn away, defend, protect" and aner meaning "man".
Meaning "Defender, protector of man".
Look up Alexander in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Alexander (pron.: /ˈæləksˈændər/, /ˈæləksˈɑːndər/) is a common male first name, and less common surname derived from the Greek "Αλέξανδρος" (Aléxandros). The most famous is Alexander the Great, who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.

Contents

Origin [edit]

Etymologically, the name is derived from the Greek "Αλέξανδρος" (Aléxandros), meaning "defending men"[1] or "protector of men", a compound of the verb "ἀλέξω" (alexō), "to ward off, to avert, to defend"[2] and the noun "ἀνδρός" (andros), genitive of "ἀνήρ" (anēr), "man".[3] It is an example of the widespread motif of Greek (or Indo-European more generally) names expressing "battle-prowess", in this case the ability to withstand or push back an enemy battle line.[citation needed]

The earliest attested form of the name is the Mycenaean Greek feminine noun a-re-ka-sa-da-ra (transliterated as Alexandra), written in Linear B syllabic script.[4][5][6]

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 save warriors". In the Iliad, the character Paris is known also as Alexander.[7] 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 for him.[citation needed]

People known as Alexander [edit]

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

Rulers of antiquity [edit]

Rulers of the Middle Ages [edit]

Modern rulers [edit]

Other royals [edit]

Several other princes have borne the name Alexander:

Religious leaders [edit]

Other people [edit]

Other people using the name Alexander include:

Antiquity [edit]

Middle Ages [edit]

Modern [edit]

  • Alexander (magician) (1880–1954), stage magician specializing in mentalism
  • Olivinha (born 1983), Brazilian basketball player also known as Alexandre

People with the given name Alexander [edit]

Internationally famous people with the given name Alexander or variants include:

Fictional people [edit]

  • Lex Luthor, the main super-villain of the Superman franchise
  • Alex DeLarge, the main character from the novel A Clockwork Orange and its film adaptation
  • Xander Harris, one of the main characters of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise
  • Alex Rider, the main character from the novel Stormbreaker and the film adaptation
  • Alexander Rozhenko, the Klingon son of Worf in the television series "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine"
  • Alexander Portnoy - Protagonist of Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth
  • Alex Cross, the main character of James Patterson's series of Alex Cross novels
  • Alex Summers, a mutant also known as Havok and brother to Scott Summers in X-Men
  • Alec Hardison, hacker in TNT's Leverage (TV series)
  • Alex Karev, one of the main characters on ABC's Grey's Anatomy.
  • Alex Mahone, one of the main characters on FOX's Prison Break.
  • Alexander Cabot III, the rich, cowardly manager in the Josie and the Pussycats comic books and television shows.
  • Alexander Anderson, superhuman warrior-priest in the anime/manga Hellsing, who opposes the Hellsing Organisation as the Vatican's most powerful anti-vampire specialist.
  • Alexander, a character in Amnesia: The Dark Descent.

Variants and diminutives [edit]

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  • Albanian – Aleksandër, Aleksandra, Aleks, Aleko, Leks, Lekë, Leka, Sandër, Leandër, Leksandër, Lisandër
  • Amharic – እስከንደር (Eskender)
  • Arabic – الاسكندر / اسكندر (Iskandar, Skandar, Skander)
  • Aragonese – Alexandre, Alixandre
  • Armenian – Ալեքսանդր (Aleksandr/Alexandr), Աղեքսանդր (Agheksandr), Ալեքսան (Aleksan/Alexan), Ալեք (Aleq), Ալիկ (Alik)
  • Asturian – Alexandru
  • Azerbaijani – İsgəndər (Isgandar)
  • Bengali – Sikandar Alakshendra, Iskandar, Skandar, Alekzandar
  • Bashkir – Искәндәр (Iskәndәr)
  • Basque – Alesander, Alesandere (feminine), Alexander, Alexandere (feminine)
  • Belarusian – Аляксандp (Aliaksandr, in normative spelling), Аляксандаp (Alaksandar, in Taraškievica spelling), Алeсь (Aleś)
  • Bulgarian – Александър (Aleksandar), Александра (Alexandra feminine), Сандо (Sando), Сашо (Sasho), Aлекс (Aleks)
  • Catalan – Alexandra (feminine), Alexandre, Àlex, Aleix, Sandra (feminine), Xandre
  • Chinese – 亞歷山大/亚历山大 (Yàlìshāndà)
  • Corsican – Lisandru
  • Croatian – Aleksandar, Saša, Aco, Aleksandra (feminine)
  • Czech – Alexandr, Aleš
  • Danish – Alexander, Alex, Alexandra (feminine)
  • Dutch – Alexander, Alex, Lex, Alexandra (feminine), Sander, Sandra (feminine), Xander
  • English – Alexander, Alec, Alex, Al, Alexis, Alexa (feminine), Alexandria (feminine), Alexandra (feminine), Lex, Lexxi, Sandra (feminine), Lexy, Lexi, Lexie, Sandy, Sasha (feminine), Xander, Xandra (feminine), Zandra (feminine), Zander
  • Esperanto – Aleksandro, Aleksaĉjo, Aleĉjo, Aĉjo, Alekso, Alko, Alek, Alik, Aleksandra (feminine), Aleksino (feminine), Aleksanjo (feminine), Anjo (feminine)
  • Estonian – Aleksander, Sander
  • Ethiopian – Eskender, Iskinder
  • Extremaduran – Alejandru
  • Faroese – Aleksandur
  • French – Alexandre, Alexis, Alex
  • Filipino – Alexander, Alejandro, Alejo, Alex, Sandy, Zandro, Alexandra (feminine), Alessandra (feminine)
  • Finnish – Aleksanteri, Santeri, Santtu
  • Galician – Alexandre, Álex
  • Georgian – ალექსანდრე (Aleksandre), სანდრო (Sandro), ალეკო (Aleko), ლექსო (Lekso), ალექსანდრა (Aleksandra, feminine)
  • German – Alexander, Alex, Alexandrine (feminine), Alexandra (female), Sascha, Sandro, Sandra (female)
  • Greek – Αλέξανδρος (Aléxandros), Αλέκος (Alekos), Αλεξάνδρα (Alexandra - female), Αλέκα (Aleka)
  • Hawaiian - Alika
  • Hebrew – אלכסנדר (Alexander), אלכס (Alex)
  • Hindi – Hindustani – Sikandar Alakshendra अलक्षेन्द्र
  • Hungarian – Sándor
  • Indonesian – Iskandar
  • Icelandic – Alexander, Alex, Alexis, Axel, Alexandra (feminine)
  • Interlingua – Alexandro
  • Irish (Gaeilge) – Alasandar, Alastar, Alsander
  • Italian – Alessandro, Ale, Alex, Sandro, Alessio, Aleandro, Alessandra (feminine), Sandra (feminine), Alessia (feminine)
  • Japanese – アレクサンドロス (Arekusandorosu), アレクサンダー (Arekusandā), アレキサンダー (Arekisandā)
  • Javanese – Alexander, Iskandar
  • Kazakh – Eskendir
  • Korean – 알렉산드로스 (Alleksandeuroseu), 알렉산더(Alleksandeo)
  • Kurdish – Askander, Eskander, Îskenderê
  • Kyrgyz – Искендер (İskender)
  • Latvian – Aleksandrs, Sandis, Sandris
  • Latin – Alexander, Alexandrus
  • Lithuanian name – Aleksandras, Aleksas
  • Lombard – Lisander
  • Macedonian – Александар (Aleksandar), Алек (Alek), Аце (Atse), Ацо (Atso), Сашо (Sasho)
  • Malay – Iskandar
  • Malayalam – ചാണ്ടി (Chandy)
  • Maltese – Lixandru
  • Mandarin Chinese - Yalishanda or Alishanda
  • Manx – Alastar, Alister
  • Marathi - Alakshendra(अलक्षेन्द्र), Sikandar
  • Mirandese – Alxandre
  • Norwegian – Aleksander, Alek, Alexander, Alex, Sander, Alexandra (feminine)
  • Occidental – Alexandro
  • Occitan – Alexandre
  • Persian – اسكندر (Eskandar). Middle Persian: Aleksandar
  • Polish name – Aleksander, Alek, Olek, Aleks
  • Portuguese – Alexandre, Alexandra (feminine), Alexandro (rare), Alex, Sandro, Sandra (feminine), Alessandro, Alessandra (feminine), Xande, Xandre
  • Romanian — Alexandru, Alexandra (feminine), Alex, Alexe, Sandu, Sanda (feminine), Sandra (feminine), Alecu, Aleca (feminine), Lisandru, Sașa
  • Russian — Александр (Aleksandr), Александра (Aleksandra, feminine), Алик (Alik, male), Аля (Alia, male and feminine), Саша (Sasha), Шурик (Shurik), Саня (Sanya)
  • Sanskrit language – Alakshendra(अलक्षेन्द्र), Aliksundara, Ilukshendra
  • Scots Gaelic – Alasdair, Alastair, Alistair, Alisdair, Aldair, Ally, Ali, Al
  • Serbian – Александар (Aleksandar), Алекса (Aleksa), Алекс (Aleks), Алек (Alek), Лексо (Lekso), Саша (Saša), Сале (Sale), Ацa (Aca), Ацо (Aco), Александра (Aleksandra, feminine), Сандра (Sandra, feminine), Сашка (Saška, feminine) or Бранко, Бранило (Branko, Branilo) derived from бранити (from Greek: Αλέξανδρος which means to defend)
  • Sicilian – Alissandru
  • Sinhala - Ishkander
  • Old Church Slavonic – Алєѯандръ (Aleksandr, Alexandr)
  • Slovak – Alexander
  • Slovene – Aleksander, Aleks, Sandi, Sašo
  • Spanish – Alejandro, Alexandro, Alejo, Álex, Jandro, Jano, Lisandro, Sandro, Alejandra (feminine), Lisandra (feminine), Sandra (feminine)
  • Swedish – Alexander, Alex, Alexandra (feminine)
  • Tamil – Aleksandar
  • Telugu – Alexandaru
  • Thai – อเล็กซานเดอร์ (Aleksāndə̄[r] (Aleksandar))
  • Turkish – İskender
  • Ukrainian — Олександр (Olexandr, Oleksandr), Олекса (Oleksa, Olexa), Сашко (Sashko), Олесь (Oles')
  • Urdu – Pakistani – سکندر (Sikandar) or اسكندر (Eskandar)
  • Uzbek – Iskandar
  • Venetian – Alessandro
  • Vietnamese – Alêchxăngđrơ, A-Lịch-Sơn
  • Võro – Aleksandri
  • Welsh – Alecsander
  • West Frisian – Aleksander
  • Yiddish – סענדער – Sender, Senderl

References [edit]

  1. ^ ἀλέξανδρος, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library
  2. ^ ἀλέξω, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library
  3. ^ ἀνήρ, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library
  4. ^ a-re-ka-sa-da-ra (Alexandra) Palaeolexicon, Word study tool of ancient languages
  5. ^ Mycenaean (Linear B) – English Glossary
  6. ^ The Mycenaean World, John Chadwick, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1976, 1999
  7. ^ Ἀλέξανδρος, Georg Autenrieth, A Homeric Dictionary, on Perseus Digital Library

See also [edit]

Slavic toponyms derived from or related to the name Alexander
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