Alexander

See also: alexander

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin Alexander, from Ancient Greek Ἀλέξανδρος (Aléxandros), from ἀλέξω (aléxō, “I defend”) + ἀνδρ- (andr-), the stem of ἀνήρ (anḗr, “man”). Doublet of Alastair and Alejandro.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌælɪɡˈzændɚ/
  • (æ-tensing, rhotic) IPA^(key): [ˌælɪɡˈzeəndɚ]
  • (æ-tensing, non-rhotic) IPA^(key): [ˌælɪɡˈzeəndə]
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌalɪɡˈzɑːndə/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Hyphenation: Al‧ex‧an‧der
• Rhymes: -ɑːndə(ɹ), -ændə(ɹ)

Proper noun

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”).
3. A place in the United States:
   1. A city in Arkansas.
   2. An unincorporated community in Georgia; named for early settler Hugh Alexander.
   3. A city in Iowa.
   4. A minor city in Rush County, Kansas; named for early settler Alexander Harvey.
   5. A town in 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 city in North Dakota; named for early North Dakota politician Alexander McKenzie.
   8. An unincorporated community in West Virginia; named for local lumber businessman John M. Alexander.
4. A rural municipality of Manitoba, Canada.
5. A community of Manitoba, Canada; named for early settler Alexander Speers.

Derived terms

• Al
• Alec
• Aleck
• Alex
• Alexander Archipelago
• Alexander Archipelago wolf
• Alexander beetle (Megadromus antarcticus)
• Alexander County
• Alexander Hamilton
• Alexander horned ball
• Alexander horned sphere
• Alexander I Island
• Alexander Island
• Alistair
• Lex
• Mount Alexander
• Sandro
• Sandy
• Sasha
• Xan
• Xander

 

Related terms

• Alexandra and its variants
• shorter forms such as Alex, Sandy or Xander

Translations

male given name

• Akkadian: ^{(please verify)} 𒀀𒌨𒊓𒀭𒁯 m (a-lik-sa-an-dar)
• Albanian: Lleshdër Lleshdri (definite)
• Amharic: አሌክሳንደር (ʾäleksandär)
• Arabic: إِسْكَنْدَر m (ʔiskandar), (transliteration) أَلِكْسَنْدَر m (ʔaliksandar), اَلإِسْكَنْدَر m (al-ʔiskandar)
• Armenian: Ալեքսանդր (hy) (Alekʻsandr)
• Asturian: Alexandru m, Xandru m
• Bashkir: Искәндәр (İskəndər)
• Basque: Alesander
• Belarusian: Алякса́ндр m (Aljaksándr)
• Bengali: সিকান্দর (bn) (śikandor)
• Breton: Aleksandr (br) ?
• Bulgarian: Алекса́ндър m (Aleksándǎr)
• Catalan: Alexandre (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 亞歷山大 / 亚历山大 (zh) (Yàlìshāndà)

• Coptic: ⲁⲗⲉⲝⲁⲛⲇⲣⲟⲥ (aleksandros)
• Corsican: Alessandru m
• Czech: Alexandr (cs) m
• Danish: Alexander ?
• Dutch: Alexander (nl) m
• Esperanto: Aleksandro
• Estonian: Aleksander (et)
• Faroese: Aleksandur m
• Finnish: Aleksanteri (fi)
• French: Alexandre (fr) m
• Friulian: Lissandri m
• Galician: Alexandre (gl) m
• Georgian: ალექსანდრე (aleksandre)
• German: Alexander (de) m
• Gothic: 𐌰𐌻𐌰𐌹𐌺𐍃𐌰𐌽𐌳𐍂𐌿𐍃 m (alaiksandrus)
• Greek: Αλέξανδρος (el) m (Aléxandros)

  Ancient: Ἀλέξανδρος m (Aléxandros)

• Hebrew: אלכסנדר (he) m (aleksander)
• Hindi: सिकन्दर (hi) m (sikandar), सिकंदर (hi) m (sikandar), इसकन्दर (hi) m (iskandar), इसकंदर (hi) m (iskandar)
• Hittite: 𒀀𒆷𒀝𒊭𒀭𒁺𒍑 (/⁠Alaksandu⁠/)
• Hungarian: Sándor (hu)
• Icelandic: Alexander (is) m
• Indonesian: Iskandar
• Ingrian: Oleksandra
• Irish: Alastar m
• Italian: Alessandro (it) m
• Japanese: アレクサンダー (Arekusandā)
• Kazakh: Ескендір (Eskendır)
• Korean: 알렉산더 (Alleksandeo)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: Skender (ku) m

• Latin: Alexander (la) m
• Latvian: Aleksandrs m
• Lithuanian: Aleksándras (lt) m
• Lombard: Lissander m
• Macedonian: Алекса́ндар (mk) m (Aleksándar)
• Madurese: ꦲꦶꦱ꧀ꦏꦤ꧀ꦢꦂ (iskandar)
• Malay: Iskandar
• Manx: Ollister m, Alistair m, Alister m
• Maranao: Iskandal
• Middle Persian: [Term?] (/⁠Aleksandar⁠/), ʾlksndl (/⁠Aleksandar⁠/), skndl
• Norwegian: Alexander (no), Aleksander (no)
• Old Church Slavonic: Алєѯандръ m (Aleksandrŭ)
• Persian: الکساندر (aleksânder), اسکندر (fa) (eskandar)
• Polabian: Sądår m
• Polish: Aleksander (pl) m, Aleksy (pl) m
• Portuguese: Alexandre (pt) m
• Romanian: Alexandru (ro) m

  Cyrillic: Александру m (Alexandru)

• Russian: Алекса́ндр (ru) m (Aleksándr)
• Sanskrit: अलक्षेन्द्र (alakṣendra), सेकन्धर (sa) m (sekandhara)
• Sardinian: Alessandru m
• Scottish Gaelic: Alasdair m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Алекса́ндар m

  Roman: Aleksándar m

• Sicilian: Alissandru m, Alessandru m
• Slovak: Alexander m
• Slovene: Aleksánder (sl) m
• Spanish: Alejandro (es) m
• Swedish: Alexander (sv) c
• Tatar: Искәндәр (İskändär)
• Thai: อเล็กซานเดอร์ (alèksaanáde)
• Turkish: İskender (tr)
• Ukrainian: Олекса́ндр m (Oleksándr)
• Urdu: سکندر m (Sikandar)
• Uyghur: ئىسكەندەر (iskender)
• Venetan: Lisandro (vec) m
• Vietnamese: A Lịch Sơn (vi), Alexanđê (Catholic), Alếchxanđrơ (French)
• Welsh: Alec m
• Yiddish: אַלעקסאַנדער m (aleksander)

Noun

Alexander (plural Alexanders)

1. Alternative letter-case form of alexander

Anagrams

• Alexandre

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈalɛksandr̩]

Proper noun

Alexander m anim

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Alexander

Declension

Declension of Alexander (hard masculine animate mixed-reducible)

	singular	plural
nominative	Alexander	Alexanderové, Alexandrové
genitive	Alexandera, Alexandra	Alexanderů, Alexandrů
dative	Alexanderovi, Alexanderu, Alexandrovi, Alexandru	Alexanderům, Alexandrům
accusative	Alexandera, Alexandra	Alexandery, Alexandry
vocative	Alexandere, Alexandře	Alexanderové, Alexandrové
locative	Alexanderovi, Alexanderu, Alexandrovi, Alexandru	Alexanderech, Alexandrech
instrumental	Alexanderem, Alexandrem	Alexandery, Alexandry

Further reading

• “Alexander” in Akademický slovník současné češtiny, 2012–2024, slovnikcestiny.cz
• “Alexander”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech)

Danish

Proper noun

Alexander

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Alexander

Related terms

• (male given names:) Alex
• (female forms:) Alexandra, Sandra, Sascha

Dutch

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Ἀλέξανδρος (Aléxandros).

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Proper noun

Alexander m

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

Related terms

• Alexandra
• Sander

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˌalɛˈksandɐ]

• Audio (Austria):

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: A‧le‧xan‧der

Proper noun

Alexander

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

Hungarian

Pronunciation

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

Proper noun

Alexander

1. a male given name

Declension

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈaːlɛksantɛ(ː)r/

Proper noun

Alexander m (proper noun, genitive singular Alexanders)

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Alexander

Declension

Declension of Alexander (sg-only masculine)

indefinite singular
nominative	Alexander
accusative	Alexander
dative	Alexanderi
genitive	Alexanders

Related terms

• variants: Alex
• female forms: Alexandra, Sandra

Latin

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /a.lekˈsan.der/, [äɫ̪ɛkˈs̠än̪d̪ɛr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /a.lekˈsan.der/, [äleɡˈzän̪d̪er]

Proper noun

Alexander m (genitive Alexandrī); second declension

1. A masculine praenomen.

Declension

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

• Corsican: Lisandru
• Emilian: Alessander
  • ⇒ Emilian: Alesànder
• Italian: Alessandro
  • Sicilian: Alissantru
• Ligurian: Lusciandro
• Lombard: Lissander
• Navarro-Aragonese:
  • → Asturian: Aleixandre
• Neapolitan: Alessandro
• Old French: Alixandre
  • French: Alexandre
    • → Breton: Aleksandr, Alesant
  • Norman: Alexandre
• Old Leonese:
  • Asturian: Xandru, Alexandru
  • Extremaduran: Alejandru
  • Mirandese: Alxandre
• Old Occitan:
  • Catalan: Alexandre
  • Occitan: Alexandre
• Old Galician-Portuguese: Alexandre
  • Galician: Alexandre
  • Portuguese: Alexandre, Alexandro
    • → Vietnamese: Alexanđê
• Old Spanish:
  • Ladino: Aleksandro
  • Spanish: Alejandro, Alexandro
    • → Basque: Alexandro
    • → Cebuano: Alejandro
    • → English: Alejandro
    • → Ilocano: Alehandro
    • → Tagalog: Alejandro
    • → Waray-Waray: Alejandro
• Piedmontese: Lissànder
• Rhaeto-Romance:
  • Friulian: Lissandri
• Sardinian: Lisandru
• Sicilian: Lisciànniru
• Venetan: Lisandru
• → Albanian: Aleksandër
• → Alemannic German: Alexander
  • ⇒ Alemannic German: Xandi
• → Aromanian: Alexandru
• → Basque: Alesander
• → Bengali: আলেকজান্ডার (alekojanḍar)
• → Dutch: Alexander
  • Afrikaans: Alexander
• → English: Alexander
  • Jamaican Creole: Aligzanda
  • → Chinese:

    Cantonese: 亞歷山大 / 亚历山大 (aa³ lik⁶ saan¹ daai⁶)

    Mandarin: 亞歷山大 / 亚历山大 (Yàlìshāndà)

    Eastern Min: 亞歷山大 / 亚历山大 (Ā-lĭk-săng-dâi)

    • → Vietnamese: A Lịch Sơn
  • → Hawaiian: Alekanekelo
• → Estonian: Aleksander
• → Faroese: Aleksandur, Alexandur
• → Finnish: Aleksanteri
• → German: Alexander
• → Hebrew: אלכסנדר (aleksánder)
• → Hungarian: Alexander
  • ⇒ Hungarian: Sándor
• → Icelandic: Alexander
• → Korean: 알렉산더 (Alleksandeo)
• → Latvian: Aleksandrs
• → Limburgish: Alexander
• → Lithuanian: Aleksándras
• → Livvi: Aleksanderi
• → Low German: Alexander
• → North Frisian: Alexander
• → Norwegian: Alexander, Aleksander
• → Old Danish: Alexander
  • Danish: Aleksander, Alexander
    • → Greenlandic: Alegsantere, Alassanteri, Aleksantare, Alexandari
• → Old Irish: Alaxander
  • Irish: Alastar
  • Manx: Alistair, Alister, Ollister
  • Scottish Gaelic: Alasdair, Alastair
    • → English: Alastair, Alistair, Allistair, Allistaire, Allister, Alastor
    • → Scots: Alistair
• → Old Swedish: Alesant, Alefant, Alexander, Alesantar, Alinsant, Alinsanter, Allexander, Allexandher, Halsand
  • Swedish: Alexander, Aleksander
• → Polish: Aleksander
• → Romanian: Alexandru
• → Samogitian: Aleksėndra
• → Scots: Elshinder, Elshinner
• → Silesian: Aleksander
• → Slovene: Aleksander
• → Saterland Frisian: Alexander
• → Swedish: Alexander
• → Thai: อเล็กซานเดอร์ (alèksaanáde)
• → Uzbek: Aleksandr
• → Veps: Alexandr
• → Võro: Aleksandri
• → Welsh: Alecsander
• → West Frisian: Aleksander
• → Yiddish: אַלעקסאַנדער (aleksander)
• → Zealandic: Alexander
• → Zhuang: Ahlijsanda

References

• “Alexander”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Norwegian

Alternative forms

• Aleksander

Proper noun

Alexander

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Alexander

Related terms

• (male given names:) Sander
• (female names:) Alexandra, Sandra

References

• [1] Statistisk sentralbyrå, Namnestatistikk: 9 615 males with the given name Alexander living in Norway on January 1st 2011, with the frequency peak in the 1980s. Accessed on 19 May, 2011.

Old English

Etymology

From Latin Alexander, from Ancient Greek Ἀλέξανδρος (Aléxandros)

Proper noun

Alexander m

1. Alexander the Great
   • late 9th century, translation of Orosius’ History Against the Pagans

     On þǣm dagum wæs Alexander ġeboren on Crēcum swa swa ān miċel ȳst cōme ofer ealne middenġeard.

     In those days Alexander was born in Greece, like a great storm coming over all the Earth.

Declension

Strong a-stem:

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

Portuguese

Etymology

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

Proper noun

Alexander m

1. a male given name

Scots

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈalɛksandər]

Proper noun

Alexander

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

Derived terms

• (diminutive) Aleck, Eck, Eckie, Sandy, Saundy, Sawnie, Sawney, Sanders, Saunders, Sannock, Sannag, Sannagie

See also

• Elshinder
• Elshinner
• Alistair

Slovak

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈalɛksandɛr/

Proper noun

Alexander m pers (genitive singular Alexandra, nominative plural Alexandrovia, declension pattern of chlap)

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Alexander

Declension

Declension of Alexander

	singular	plural
nominative	Alexander	Alexandrovia
genitive	Alexandra	Alexandrov
dative	Alexandrovi	Alexandrom
accusative	Alexandra	Alexandrov
locative	Alexandrovi	Alexandroch
instrumental	Alexandrom	Alexandrami

Further reading

• “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, 2003–2024

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English Alexander. Doublet of Alejandro.

Pronunciation

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

Proper noun

Alexander m

1. a male given name

Swedish

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Proper noun

Alexander c (genitive Alexanders)

1. a male given name

Related terms

• (male given names) Alex
• (female names) Alexandra, Sandra
• (surnames) Alexandersson

References

• 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.