Every Girl Name

Girl's name

Alexandra

Say it al-ig-ZAN-druh

Greek origin to defend + man 4 syllables

Sister names Middle names Deal sisters

Where Alexandra is loved, common and rare

Common in Catalonia. Rare in Austria, Canada, Ireland and 16 more places.

1 in 660 girls born in Ireland in 2025

Every place

In 22 of the 40 official lists, among them Catalonia (86th), Austria (131st) and British Columbia (132nd).

Show all 22 placesShow less
PlaceRankGirlsShare
Catalonia region86th 2025521 in 371
Austria131st 2025471 in 760
British Columbia province132nd 202322about 1 in 544
Ireland141st 2025321 in 660
Munich city145th 20259about 1 in 466
Ontario province160th 202468about 1 in 801
Scotland183rd 2025221 in 813
Berlin city185th 202316about 1 in 906
Norway212th 2025201 in 1,090
England and Wales231st 20252021 in 1,254
Sweden263rd 202528about 1 in 1,435
Northern Ireland290th 202551 in 1,457
Poland308th 2025141 in 8,556
Switzerland322nd 2025221 in 1,545
The Netherlands385th 202535about 1 in 1,743
Quebec province412th 202512about 1 in 2,167
Italy415th 2024331 in 5,429
Cologne city419th 20232about 1 in 3,072
France529th 2025851 in 3,374
Israel אלכסנדרה796th 20248about 1 in 9,809
Leipzig city212th 20252about 1 in 1,312
Bonn city382nd 20251about 1 in 3,015

Rare, below the listed names: New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, New Zealand, Rostock, Spain, Hungary and Slovenia.

Not in a short top list, so no figure: Nova Scotia (top 21), Denmark (top 50), Finland (top 50), Iceland (top 10), Estonia (top 25), Moscow (top 61), Turkey (top 30), Argentina (top 20) and Croatia (top 50).

Germany publishes no national statistics on first names. German figures here are city lists (Berlin, Munich, Cologne, Bonn, Leipzig, Rostock), never the country.

Israel publishes names in Hebrew script. The Latin spelling shown is our transliteration; the published form is shown beside it.

Sources: Idescat (Institut d'Estadística de Catalunya) (Catalonia); Statistik Austria (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1) (Austria); BC Vital Statistics Agency (BC Data Catalogue) (British Columbia); Central Statistics Office (CSO) (Ireland); Landeshauptstadt München, Statistisches Amt (opendata.muenchen.de) (Munich); Ontario Office of the Registrar General (Ontario Data Catalogue) (Ontario); National Records of Scotland (Scotland); BerlinOnline GmbH; Landesamt für Bürger- und Ordnungsangelegenheiten (LABO) / Standesämter (Berlin); Statistics Norway (SSB) (Norway); Office for National Statistics (England and Wales); Skatteverket (Swedish Tax Agency) (Sweden); NISRA (Northern Ireland); Ministerstwo Cyfryzacji, rejestr PESEL (dane.gov.pl) (Poland); Bundesamt für Statistik (BFS) / Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS) (Switzerland); Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB) (the Netherlands); Retraite Québec (Banque de prénoms, Données Québec) (Quebec); ISTAT, Contanomi (Italy); Stadt Köln, Standesamt (offenedaten-koeln.de) (Cologne); INSEE, Fichier des prénoms (édition 2025) (France); Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel) (Israel); Stadt Leipzig, Standesamt (opendata.leipzig.de) (Leipzig); Bundesstadt Bonn, Standesamt (opendata.bonn.de) (Bonn). How we count, and every source

About the name

Alexandra comes from Ancient Greek Alexándra, built from aléxō, 'to defend', and anḗr, 'man'. It is the feminine form of Alexander.

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Its four syllables, al-ig-ZAN-druh, give it a strong, formal rhythm. Alexa and Alexia are shorter relatives, Sandra and Sascha are traditional short forms, and Aleksandra, Alejandra and Alessandra are forms in other languages.

Alexandra is used in British Columbia, Ireland and Ontario, and in Catalonia, Austria and Norway. The French records place its peak in 1978. Today it is falling in 15 places with no rises recorded, so it is a name of the parents' generation, though it remains widely known.

Meaning, origin, pronunciation

Pronounced
al-ig-ZAN-druh, 4 syllables
Meaning
to defend + man
Origin
Greek
Other spellings
  • Sandra
  • Aleksandra
  • Alejandra
  • Alessandra
  • Oleksandra
  • Alexia
  • Sascha
  • Sandrine
  • Xana
  • Alexa
  • Saša
  • Xandra
  • Sanda
  • Sandy
  • Andra
  • Aliaksandra
  • Sanni
  • Alexandria
Etymology

From Ancient Greek Ἀλεξάνδρα (Alexándra), from ἀλέξω (aléxō, “to defend”) + ἀνδρ- (andr-, stem of ἀνήρ (anḗr, “man”)). Feminine form of Alexander (“the man who repels [enemies]”).

From the Wiktionary entry, CC BY-SA 4.0, shortened.

Over time

Over five years: falling in 15 of 20 regions, rising in none.

Show the yearsShow less

Rank in each place since 1996; higher on the chart is more popular.

Catalonia 83rd 1997 to 86th 2025
1st10th100th1000th19962025
Austria 27th 1996 to 131st 2025
1st10th100th1000th19962025
British Columbia 15th 1996 to 132nd 2023
1st10th100th1000th19962025
Ireland 98th 1996 to 141st 2025
1st10th100th1000th19962025
Munich 91st 2013 to 145th 2025
1st10th100th1000th19962025
Ontario 10th 1996 to 160th 2024
1st10th100th1000th19962025

Ten years of ranks

Her rank each year, English-speaking regions first. A blank means no published rank for her that year.

Region2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
England and Wales113120117117136161183197215231
Scotland82103143158147225163210176183
Northern Ireland123143101131178206162264253290
Ireland9111111388107106118148145141
Ontario59656788101114171173160
British Columbia86781107875176170132
Victoria528987
South Australia20298100
Quebec124139202176165216176282323412
France305335353383407454512518568529
The Netherlands412373429426530521331500385
Austria9911093112118150125137189131
Switzerland118140149148183330190231289322
Berlin63129103110138163154185
Munich749110794111196135151117145
Cologne96125107154432223420419
Bonn59222168131117186392236223382
Leipzig771249337811689157130222212
Rostock2836620290197122174158
Norway95129119139143147135158159212
Sweden121155148169204192219212222263
Iceland2545
Catalonia6368726572849710310686
Italy235236235233250342309415
Poland156175201237267233226244280308
Hungary5864667577959894
Israel406447621554621622679803796

England and Wales, 1996 to 2025

YearRankGirlsper 100,000 girls
202523120279.8
202421522687.6
202319725298.2
2022183281106.6
2021161318116.0
2020136366136.4
2019117436155.7
2018117463160.6
2017120460153.8
2016113502163.4
2015116500162.4
2014107529172.5
2013102543176.0
2012116498154.6
2011107534166.2
201097612190.6
200987692220.8
200890625197.9
200794578188.8
200689602201.2
200587634219.9
200472730255.4
200367766274.9
200256910340.4
200151969361.6
2000481,049384.0
1999491,114395.5
1998461,290446.1
1997431,381471.0
1996381,595538.9

Sources: Office for National Statistics (1996-2025), OGL v3.

France since 1925

Half of the babies named Alexandra in France since 1925 were born in or after 1983. First recorded in 1925. Her peak year there: 1978, at 1,296.8 per 100,000 girls.

01,0002,0001940196019802000202001,0002,00019602000

Babies named Alexandra per 100,000 girls born in France, by five-year period. Her 1978 peak is averaged into its five-year period, so the line sits below it.

Sources: INSEE, Fichier des prénoms (édition 2025) (1900-2025), Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0.

Sister names for Alexandra

  1. 1 in 405 in Northern Ireland

  2. 1 in 5,964 in Scotland

  3. 1 in 782 in Ireland

  4. 1 in 3,578 in Scotland

  5. 1 in 424 in England and Wales

  6. 1 in 754 in Ireland

  7. 1 in 640 in Ireland

  8. 1 in 880 in Ireland

  9. 1 in 2,347 in Ireland

  10. 1 in 660 in Ireland

All sister names for AlexandraDeal more sisters

Middle names for Alexandra

  1. 1 in 107 in Northern Ireland

  2. 1 in 86 in Ireland

  3. 1 in 57 in Northern Ireland

  4. 1 in 311 in Ireland

  5. 1 in 102 in Ireland

  6. 1 in 132 in Northern Ireland

  7. 1 in 214 in Northern Ireland

  8. 1 in 78 in Northern Ireland

All middle names for AlexandraDeal more middle names

Same style as Alexandra

Names whose popularity rose and fell with hers across regions and decades.

  1. 1 in 271 in Ireland

  2. 1 in 660 in Ireland

  3. 1 in 221 in Scotland

  4. 1 in 1,921 in Ireland

  5. 1 in 405 in Northern Ireland

  6. 1 in 1,193 in Scotland

  7. 1 in 491 in Ireland

  8. 1 in 2,347 in Ireland

Deal more in this style

Famous people named Alexandra

Alexandra Daddario, Alexandra Feodorovna, Alexandra of Denmark, Alexandra David-Néel, Alexandra Stan, Alexandra Maria Lara, Alexandra of Yugoslavia and Alexandra Popp.

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People: Wikidata (CC0), linked to Wikipedia in this page's language when an article exists.

Questions about Alexandra

5 questions, on how popular she is, what it means, how to say it, whether she is rising and sister names.

Show all 5 questionsShow less
How popular is Alexandra?

Her best rank is No. 86 in Catalonia in 2025, about 1 in 371 girls. She is in the published lists of 22 of our 40 regions.

What does Alexandra mean?

Wiktionary glosses Alexandra as "to defend + man".

How do you pronounce Alexandra?

al-ig-ZAN-druh, with 4 syllables.

Is Alexandra getting more popular?

Over five years: falling in 15 of 20 regions, rising in none.

Which sister names go with Alexandra?

The deck's top five sisters for Alexandra: Lydia, Melanie, Melissa, Angela and Fatima. Each is scored on style, era, popularity and origin, with sound clashes flagged.

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