Given name · Mongolian · Russian
Александр
“to defend”·“man”
Александр (Aleksándr) is a masculine given name from Old East Slavic, ultimately from Ancient Greek. It is used in Russian and Mongolian.
Mongolian and RussianWritten in Cyrillic script. In English: Alexander.
Meaning & origin
What it means
Александр is built from elements meaning “to defend” and “man”.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Where it comes from
Александр comes from Old East Slavic, and ultimately from Ancient Greek.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
How it developed
In Russian usage, Александр developed from the Ancient Greek form Ἀλέξανδρος.
Александр’s family of names
In Spanish usage, Александр has a diminutive in Sasha. In Russian usage, Александр shares a linguistic root with the English form Alexander. In Russian usage, Александр has a conventional equivalent in the Spanish form Alejandro.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Александр has relatives in 48 languages. Lines run from its Ancient Greek roots to each of them.
Ancient Greekwhere Александр comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 9
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Sashadiminutive · English, Spanish
- Sachadiminutive · French
- Олесьdiminutive · Russian
- Шураdiminutive · Russian
- סשהdiminutive · Hebrew
- Shurashort form · English
- Сашаdiminutive · Russian
- Алекса́ндръvariant · Russian
Show 1 moreShow fewer
Spellings & scripts 2
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 47
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- Alexandercognate · German, English
- AlejandroSpanish
- AlessandroPortuguese, Italian
- Alistairequivalent
- AleksanderPolish, Estonian
- AlexandrePortuguese, French
- Sandroequivalent
- AleksandarCroatian, Serbian
Show 39 moreShow fewer
- SaschaGerman
- AlexandrCzech
- Oleksandrequivalent
- Aleksequivalent
- AlexandruRomanian
- Iskandarequivalent
- IskenderTurkish
- AleksandrsLatvian
- Olexandrequivalent
- Oleksandraborrowing · izh
- Alaksandarequivalent
- Aliaksandrequivalent
- Àlexequivalent
- Lissanderequivalent
- إسكندرequivalent
- Аляксандарequivalent
- Aleksandroequivalent
- АлесьBelarusian
- АляксандрBelarusian
- アレクサンダーJapanese
- Lisàndareml
- AleksanteriFinnish
- ОлександрUkrainian
- อเล็กซานเดอร์Thai
- AlissandruSicilian
- АлександарSerbian
- ꦲꦶꦱ꧀ꦏꦤ꧀ꦢꦂmad
- AleksandrasLithuanian
- 알렉산드르Korean
- 알렉산드로스Korean
- 亞歷山大Chinese
- סענדערYiddish
- אלכסנדרHebrew
- ალექსანდრეGeorgian
- ΑλέξανδροςGreek
- SándorHungarian
- АлександърBulgarian
- الإسكندرArabic
- Ἀλέξανδροςroot · Ancient Greek
See also 3
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Александр
- Alexander PushkinRussian poet, playwright, and novelist (1799–1837)
- Aleksandr SolzhenitsynRussian writer, publicist, poet and politician (1918–2008)
- Alexander I of RussiaThe tenth Emperor of Russia (1777–1825)
- Alexander II of RussiaThe 12th Emperor of Russia (1855–1881)1818–1881
- Alexander BlokRussian poet (1880–1921)
- Alexander III of RussiaEmperor of Russia from 1881 to 18941845–1894
- Alexander SuvorovRussian marshal (1730–1800)
- Alexander AlekhineRussian-French chess player (1892–1946)
- Alexander HerzenRussian author, philosopher, and revolutionary (1812–1870)
Characters named Александр: Shurik (Soviet film character), Shura Balaganov (Ilf and Petrov's novel The Little Golden Calf).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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