Alex

Alex is a short form of a much older Greek name, Aleksander, built from the verb alexein, to defend, and andros, of a man. Put together they give the sense that followed the name into Polish: defender of men, obrońca ludzi.

The full Aleksander has a long past in Poland. Aleksander Jagiellończyk wore the crown at the turn of the sixteenth century. From the same root come the feminine Aleksandra and the variant Aleks, while the diminutives Olek and Ola set the Greek weight aside and turn soft and everyday.

Alex sits somewhere between them. It works as easily abroad as it does at home. On a Polish class register it can stand beside Aleksander and Aleksandra without confusion. At an imieniny the same day belongs to anyone who answers to a form of it. Whatever the urząd finally writes in the box, the Greek root holds: a defender of men.