Aleksander
From the Greek for "defender of men". It still sits just inside Poland's top 100 boys' names, one you almost certainly know someone by, though it's eased off since a peak in the 2010s.
Aleksander Pronunciation
Aleksander is pronounced ah-lek-SAHN-der (/alɛkˈsandɛr/).
What Aleksander means
Where Aleksander comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
The name comes from Greek Alexandros, built from alexein, to defend, and andros, of man. So its short meaning, defender of men, sits at the root rather than being fixed on later. Alexander of Macedon carried it across the ancient world. It reached Poland much later, worn by rulers including Aleksander Jagiellończyk, king at the turn of the sixteenth century.
Polish speech has shortened it many ways. A boy might be Olek at home, Aleks with friends, Oleś to a grandmother. The cross-gender form is Aleksandra, and Latvian keeps a close cousin in Aleksandrs.
Read a school register in Kraków and the name still appears, sometimes trimmed to Aleks by the teacher. Kings wore it. The old sense holds: defender of men.
When Aleksander celebrates name day
Aleksander appears 30 times in the Polish name day calendar, 4 of them as a main name, the first on 26 February.
The days Polish calendars list this name on. By custom you celebrate one of them, usually the first after your birthday.
Rarer dates. Only the most complete calendars add this name on these days. Most skip them, so hardly anyone celebrates then.
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in 127 days15 JanuaryFriday in 2027
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in 142 days30 JanuarySaturday in 2027
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in 161 days18 FebruaryThursday in 2027
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in 170 days27 FebruarySaturday in 2027
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in 181 days10 MarchWednesday in 2027
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in 189 days18 MarchThursday in 2027
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in 191 days20 MarchSaturday in 2027
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in 195 days24 MarchWednesday in 2027
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in 198 days27 MarchSaturday in 2027
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in 199 days28 MarchSunday in 2027
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in 226 days24 AprilSaturday in 2027
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in 252 days20 MayThursday in 2027
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in 261 days29 MaySaturday in 2027
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in 269 days6 JuneSunday in 2027
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in 302 days9 JulyFriday in 2027
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in 303 days10 JulySaturday in 2027
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in 325 days1 AugustSunday in 2027
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in 335 days11 AugustWednesday in 2027
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in 352 days28 AugustSaturday in 2027
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in 357 days2 SeptemberThursday in 2027
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in 3 days13 SeptemberSunday in 2026
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in 11 days21 SeptemberMonday in 2026
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in 31 days11 OctoberSunday in 2026
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in 60 days9 NovemberMonday in 2026
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in 75 days24 NovemberTuesday in 2026
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in 82 days1 DecemberTuesday in 2026
How many people are named Aleksander
1 in 134 men in Poland is named Aleksander. 158,982 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #93 among male names.
Aleksander's popularity over time
4,687 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #5 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2001.
Where Aleksander is most popular
Aleksander is most popular in Świętokrzyskie, 34% above the national average (1,486 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Warmian-Masurian (+22%) and Łódź (+19%). It is least common in Opole and Silesian, 28% and 25% below average respectively.
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Świętokrzyskie1,486 boys born+34%
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Warmian-Masurian1,744 boys born+22%
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Łódź3,007 boys born+19%
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Lublin2,431 boys born+18%
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Podlaskie1,534 boys born+17%
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Masovian8,039 boys born+14%
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Subcarpathian2,534 boys born+5%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian2,263 boys born+4%
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West Pomeranian1,618 boys born−4%
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Lesser Poland4,288 boys born−5%
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Greater Poland4,047 boys born−6%
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Lubusz873 boys born−12%
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Pomeranian2,596 boys born−12%
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Lower Silesian2,637 boys born−16%
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Silesian3,429 boys born−25%
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Opole661 boys born−28%
Aleksander as a middle name
Aleksander is a first name for 158,982 men in Poland and a middle name for another 88,645, a 64/36 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 36th, between Dariusz (89,939) and Roman (87,248).
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#34 Rafał97,261
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#35 Dariusz89,939
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#36 Aleksander88,645
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#37 Roman87,248
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#38 Sebastian84,994