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Alexander

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: alexander

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
Alexander the Great's given name is a historical coincidence. The ancient Greek name Alexandros literally translates to "defender of men" or "protector of mankind"; however, it was already a common Macedonian and Greek name long before he was born. The meaning of the name seemed to align perfectly with his life's work as he rapidly expanded his empire across three continents and founded the influential Hellenistic civilization. His unprecedented success cemented the name in history, causing it to explode in popularity across Europe and Asia.
After conquering the Persians in 331 BC, Alexandria in Egypt was founded and named by Alexander the Great. He founded at least ten cities named after himself across his empire.

Etymology

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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

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Proper noun

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Alexander (plural Alexanders)

  1. A male given name from Ancient Greek, most famously held by Alexander the Great.
    • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:
      Why may not imagination trace the noble dust of Alexander, till he find it stopping a bung-hole?
    • 1765, Laurence Sterne, Tristram Shandy, Book IV, Chapter 18:
      And for my own part, said my uncle Toby, though I should blush to boast of myself, Trim - yet had my name been Alexander, I could have done no more at Namur than my duty.
    • 1985, Anne Tyler, The Accidental Tourist, →ISBN, page 170:
      "My son's name is Alexander," Muriel said. "Did I tell you that? I named him Alexander because it sounded high-class.
  2. A Scottish surname originating as a patronymic, anglicized from Scottish Gaelic Mac Alasdair (“son of Alexander”).
    • 2023 April 17, Will Sommer, “‘Stop the Steal’ Organizer Apologizes After Being Accused of Asking Teen Boys for D*ck Pics”, in The Daily Beast‎[1], archived from the original on 20 April 2023:
      Yiannopoulos started releasing video interviews and other evidence meant to prove that [Ali] Alexander sexually propositioned both adult men in their 20s and at least two teenagers.
  3. A place in the United States:
    1. A city in Pulaski County and Saline County, Arkansas.
    2. An unincorporated community in Burke County, Georgia; named for early settler Hugh Alexander.
    3. A minor city in Franklin County, Iowa.
    4. A minor city in Rush County, Kansas; named for early settler Alexander Harvey.
    5. A town in Washington County, Maine; named for British politician and financier Alexander Baring, 1st Baron Ashburton.
    6. A town and village therein, in Genesee County, New York; named for early settler Alexander Rea.
    7. A minor city in McKenzie County, North Dakota; named for early North Dakota politician Alexander McKenzie.
    8. An unincorporated community in Upshur County, West Virginia; named for local lumber businessman John M. Alexander.
  4. A rural municipality in eastern Manitoba, Canada.
  5. A community in the Rural Municipality of Whitehead, Manitoba, Canada; named for early settler Alexander Speers.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Trivia

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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."[1]

Noun

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Alexander (plural Alexanders)

  1. Alternative letter-case form of alexander.
  2. Ellipsis of bord Alexander.

References

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  1. ^ 2026 March 23. Lankford, Kendall. "Name Change." The Shepherd's Church.

Anagrams

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Czech

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Pronunciation

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Proper noun

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Alexander m anim

  1. a male given name, equivalent to English Alexander

Declension

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Further reading

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Danish

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Proper noun

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Alexander

  1. a male given name, equivalent to English Alexander
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Dutch

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Etymology

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From Ancient Greek Ἀλέξανδρος (Aléxandros).

Pronunciation

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Proper noun

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Alexander m

  1. a male given name from Ancient Greek, equivalent to English Alexander
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German

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Pronunciation

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Proper noun

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Alexander

  1. a male given name, feminine equivalent Alexandra or Sandra, equivalent to English Alexander; diminutive forms Alex, Sandro, Sascha

Hungarian

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 Alexander on Hungarian Wikipedia

Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin Alexander, from Ancient Greek Ἀλέξανδρος (Aléxandros).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): [ˈɒlɛksɒndɛr]
  • Rhymes: -ɛr
  • Hyphenation: Ale‧xan‧der
  • Syllabification: A‧le‧xan‧der

Proper noun

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Alexander

  1. a male given name from Ancient Greek

Declension

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Inflection (stem in -e-, front unrounded harmony)
singular plural
nominative Alexander Alexanderek
accusative Alexandert Alexandereket
dative Alexandernek Alexandereknek
instrumental Alexanderrel Alexanderekkel
causal-final Alexanderért Alexanderekért
translative Alexanderré Alexanderekké
terminative Alexanderig Alexanderekig
essive-formal Alexanderként Alexanderekként
essive-modal — —
inessive Alexanderben Alexanderekben
superessive Alexanderen Alexandereken
adessive Alexandernél Alexandereknél
illative Alexanderbe Alexanderekbe
sublative Alexanderre Alexanderekre
allative Alexanderhez Alexanderekhez
elative Alexanderből Alexanderekből
delative Alexanderről Alexanderekről
ablative Alexandertől Alexanderektől
non-attributive
possessive – singular 		Alexanderé Alexandereké
non-attributive
possessive – plural 		Alexanderéi Alexanderekéi
Possessive forms of Alexander
possessor single possession multiple possessions
1st person sing. Alexanderem Alexandereim
2nd person sing. Alexandered Alexandereid
3rd person sing. Alexandere Alexanderei
1st person plural Alexanderünk Alexandereink
2nd person plural Alexanderetek Alexandereitek
3rd person plural Alexanderük Alexandereik

Icelandic

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): [ˈaːlɛkˌsantɛr]

Proper noun

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Alexander m (proper noun, genitive singular Alexanders)

  1. a male given name, equivalent to English Alexander

Declension

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Declension of Alexander (sg-only masculine)
indefinite singular
nominative Alexander
accusative Alexander
dative Alexanderi
genitive Alexanders
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Latin

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Ancient Greek Ἀλέξανδρος (Aléxandros), from ἀλέξω (aléxō, “to defend”) +‎ ἀνδρός (andrós, genitive of ἀνήρ (anḗr, “man”)).

Pronunciation

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Proper noun

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Alexander m (genitive Alexandrī); second declension

  1. a masculine praenomen

Declension

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Second-declension noun (nominative singular in -er).

singular plural
nominative Alexander Alexandrī
genitive Alexandrī Alexandrōrum
dative Alexandrō Alexandrīs
accusative Alexandrum Alexandrōs
ablative Alexandrō Alexandrīs
vocative Alexander Alexandrī

Descendants

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References

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Norwegian Bokmål

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Wikipedia has articles on:

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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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

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Proper noun

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Alexander

  1. a male given name from Latin [in turn from Ancient Greek], equivalent to English Alexander
  2. 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

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  • 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

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Statistics

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  • According to Statistics Norway, 12,422 people in Norway had Alexander as their sole or first given name as of 31 December 2025.[1]
  • According to Statistics Norway, 127 people in Norway bore Alexander as a surname as of 31 December 2025.[2]

References

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  1. ^ “Navn”, Statistics Norway.
  2. ^ “Table of protected surnames 2025”, Statistics Norway.

Anagrams

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Old English

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Etymology

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From Latin Alexander, from Ancient Greek Ἀλέξανδρος (Aléxandros)

Proper noun

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Alexander m

  1. Alexander the Great
    • late 9th century, translation of Orosius’ History Against the Pagans
      On þǣm dagum wæs Alexander ġeboren on Crēcum swā swā ān miċel ȳst cōme ofer ealne middenġeard.
      In those days Alexander was born in Greece, like a great storm coming over all the Earth.
    • Wonders of the East
      Þā wīf syndon ðrēotȳne fōta lange ⁊ heora līċ bið on marmorstānes hwītnysse. ⁊ hī habbað olfenda fēt ⁊ eoferes tēð. For heora unclēnnesse hīe ġefelde wurdon fram ðām mycclan macedoniscȧn Alexandre. Þā hē hī lifiende ġefōn ne mihte þā ācwealde hē hī for ðam hī syndon ǣwisċe on līchoman ⁊ unweorðe.
      Those women are thirteen feet tall and their bodies are the whiteness of marble. And they have the feet of camels and teeth of a boar. For their uncleanliness, they were killed by Alexander the Great of Macedon. He killed them because he could not capture them alive, because they are worthless and foul of body.

Declension

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Strong a-stem:

singular plural
nominative Alexander —
accusative Alexander —
genitive Alexandres —
dative Alexandre —

Portuguese

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Etymology

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    Unadapted borrowing from English Alexander. Doublet of Alexandre and Alessandro.

    Proper noun

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    Alexander m

    1. a male given name

    Scots

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    Pronunciation

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    Proper noun

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    Alexander

    1. a male given name from Ancient Greek, equivalent to English Alexander

    Derived terms

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    See also

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    Slovak

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    Pronunciation

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    Proper noun

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    Alexander m pers (diminutive Alinko or Šaňko)

    1. a male given name, equivalent to English Alexander

    Declension

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    Declension of Alexander
    (pattern chlap)
    singularplural
    nominativeAlexanderAlexandrovia
    genitiveAlexandraAlexandrov
    dativeAlexandroviAlexandrom
    accusativeAlexandraAlexandrov
    locativeAlexandroviAlexandroch
    instrumentalAlexandromAlexandrami

    Derived terms

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    Hypocoristics

    Further reading

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    • “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

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    Etymology

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      Unadapted borrowing from English Alexander. Doublet of Alejandro.

      Pronunciation

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      • IPA(key): /aleɡˈsandeɾ/ [a.leɣ̞ˈsãn̪.d̪eɾ]
        • Rhymes: -andeɾ
        • Syllabification: A‧le‧xan‧der
      • IPA(key): /alɪɡˈseəndɚ/ [alɪɣ̞ˈseən̪d̪ɚ]
      • IPA(key): /ˈælɪɡseəndɚ/ [ˈælɪɣ̞seən̪d̪ɚ]

      Proper noun

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      Alexander m

      1. a male given name

      Swedish

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      Etymology

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      Equivalent to English Alexander. First recorded in Sweden (Scania) in 1201.

      Pronunciation

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      Proper noun

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      Alexander c (genitive Alexanders)

      1. a male given name
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      References

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      • 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.
      Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Alexander&oldid=91556198"