Copyright Юрий Абрамочкин (Yuriy Abramochkin)
In loving memory of my favourite writer, Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn, on what would’ve been his 99th birthday, I decided to have a post about his lovely name. I had a previous post about my favourite forms of the name, but that didn’t include all forms, nor did it include much background information.
Alexander is the Latinized form of the Greek Alexandros, which means “defender of man.” It’s composed of the elements alexo (to defend/help) and aner (andros in the genitive case) (man). As almost everyone knows, its most famous bearer has been Alexander the Great of Macedonia, who rose to become emperor of Greece, Egypt, Persia, and parts of India.
Alexander the Great’s fame and popularity was such that his name became widespread through many of the areas he’d conquered and ruled. Through the ages, famous bearers of the name in its various forms have included kings, emperors, tsars, popes, politicians, writers, scientists, inventors, explorers, artists, philosophers, and athletes.
Alexander the Great was also a fellow lefty!
Alexander was in the lower reaches of the U.S. Top 100 from 1880–96, and crept back into those ranges a number of times again over the years. It slowly began sinking in popularity in 1918, with a few years when it slightly rose in popularity. Its lowest rank was #233 in 1959.
After this, it began a nearly uninterrupted steady climb into the Top 10. Its highest rank was #4 in 2009. In 2011, it was #11.
The name is also popular in Iceland (#2), Canada (#6), Sweden (#7), Scotland (#8), Austria and Australia (#9 in both), Mexico (#13), Denmark (#16), England and Wales (#21), Belgium (#22), Norway and New Zealand (both #30), Switzerland (#35), Ireland and Northern Ireland (#46 in both), Chile (#56), The Netherlands (#79), Poland (#93), the Czech Republic (#94), Hungary (#98), and Italy (#109).
Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, the future Empress Aleksandra of Russia, before so much sadness began invading her life
The feminine form Alexandra is also quite common, though not as much as its male counterpart. It entered the U.S. Top 100 at #945 in 1915, immediately dropped out the next year, returned at #992 in 1934, again dropped out, was #941 in 1936, and finally entered long-term at #866 in 1938.
The name slowly climbed to the Top 100, with some quite large leaps in the early Eighties. Its highest rank was #26 in 1995 and 1996. Alexandra’s popularity slowly diminished, and by 2016, it was #110.
Alexander is used in English, Greek, the Scandinavian languages, Icelandic, Hungarian, German, Dutch, and Slovak. Alexandra is used in English, German, Dutch, French, Hungarian, Portuguese, Greek, Icelandic, Italian, Spanish, the Scandinavian languages, Slovak, Czech, and Romanian.
U.S. inventor Alexander Graham Bell
Other forms of Alexander:
1. Aleksandr is Russian, Ukranian, and Armenian. Russian nicknames include Sasha, Sanya (my favourite writer’s own nickname), Shura, Sanyechka, Sashenka, Shurik, Sashura, and Shuryenka.
2. Aleksander is Polish, Estonian, Slovenian, Danish, and Norwegian. The variation Aleksandër is Albanian. Nicknames include Aleks and Olek (Polish); Sander and Alex (Norwegian and Danish); Sašo, Saša, Sandi, Aleks, and Aleš (Slovenian); and Skender (Albanian).
3. Alyaksandr is Belarusian.
4. Alexandru is Romanian, with the nicknames Sandu and Alex.
5. Aleksandar is Bulgarian, Macedonian, Serbian, and Croatian. Nicknames include Sasho (Bulgarian and Macedonian); Saša (Serbian and Croatian); Sandi (Croatian); Ace (Macedonian); and Aco and Aca (Serbian and Macedonian).
6. Alessandro is Italian.
7. Aleksandro is Esperanto, with the nickname Aleĉjo.
8. Alexandre is French, Galician, Catalan, and Portuguese.
9. Aleksandrs is Latvian.
10. Aleksanteri is Finnish, with nicknames including Ale, Samppa, Santeri, and Santtu.
French writer Alexandre Dumas père
11. Alesander is Basque.
12. Aleksandras is Lithuanian.
13. Alasdair is Scottish. It’s most often Anglicized as Alastair.
14. Aleksandur is Faroese.
15. Aleksantare is Greenlandic.
16. Alagsantere is also Greenlandic.
17. Alekanekelo is Hawaiian.
18. Alessandru is Sardinian.
19. Alexandro is Brazilian–Portuguese and Spanish.
20. Alissandru is Sicilian.
Pope Alexander VII, né Fabio Chigi, 13 February 1599–22 May 1667
21. Alyksandr is Abkhaz and Ossetian.
22. Alyok is Mordvin.
23. Alastar is Irish.
24. Aleksandre is Georgian, with the nickname Sandro.
25. Alexandr is Czech, with the nickname Aleš.
26. Alexandros is Greek, with the nickname Alekos.
27. Eskender is Amharic.
28. Iskandar is Arabic, Indonesian, and Malaysian.
29. Sándor (SHAHN-dor) is Hungarian. One of the nicknames is Sanyi.
30. Sikandar is Pashto and Urdu.
Tsar Aleksandr II of Russia
31. Eskandar is Persian.
32. Alejandro is Spanish.
33. Sender is Yiddish.
34. Oleksandr is Ukrainian, with nicknames including Olek, Oles, and Sasha.
35. Chandy is Malayalam, a language spoken in India.
36. Eskendir is Kazakh.
37. Isgandar is Azeri.
38. Îskenderê is Kurdish.
39. Jinoquio is Romany Caló.
40. İskender is Turkish.
King Alexander of Greece, 1 August 1893–25 October 1920
41. Lixandro is Aragonese.
42. Lisandru is Sardinian and Corsican.
43. Lexu is Swiss–German.
44. Santӑr is Chuvash.
45. Xandru is Maltese.
Other forms of Alexandra:
1. Aleksandra is Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Polish, Slovenian, Serbian, Macedonian, Estonian, Latvian, Albanian, and Croatian. Its Russian nicknames are the same as those for Aleksandr. Sasha is also a Ukrainian nickname. Others include Sanda (Croatian), Saša (Slovenian and Croatian), Lesya and Alesya (Ukrainian), Ola (Polish), and Sashka (Macedonian and Bulgarian).
Queen Alexandra of England, née Princess of Denmark
2. Alexandrine is French and German.
3. Alexandrie is French.
4. Alessandra is Italian.
5. Alesandere is a rare, modern Basque name.
6. Alejandra is Spanish.
7. Aletsandra is Occitan.
8. Alyaksandra is Belarusian.
9. Alissandra is Sicilian.
10. Oleksandra is Ukrainian.
11. Alexandria is English. I always preferred this name with long As.
Onomastics Outside the Box 