Aleksandr

The name Aleksandr comes from the Greek Alexandros, built from alexein, to defend, and andros, of a man. Put together, the parts give the short meaning that dictionaries still print: defender of men. A Macedonian king wore it first into history, and the name outran his empire by centuries.

In Russian usage it hardened into Aleksandr, the form carried by tsars and by Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, whose lines shaped modern Russian more than any decree could. The Russian tie stays strong. A boy called Aleksandr often answers to Sasha among family, a soft turn that startles anyone who learns the long form first.

Poland takes the same root and settles it as Aleksander, with Aleksandra for a daughter and the workaday short forms Olek and Aleks. On a school register you can meet two boys with one name and two ways to call them, an Olek in the third row, an Aleks by the window. Their imieniny falls on the 26th of February, again in May, again in August. The meaning underneath never moves. Obrońca ludzi, defender of men.