Alexander
The Greek for "defender of men", worn here in its English and German spelling rather than the Polish Aleksander. It stays firmly a boys' name: of the roughly 14,000 Poles who carry it, all but a handful are men, and meeting one is still memorable.
Alexander Pronunciation
What Alexander means
Where Alexander comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
The name Alexander reaches back to the Greek Alexandros, a compound of the verb alexein, to defend, and andros, man. Put together, the pieces give the sense that has followed the name since antiquity: defender of men, obrońca ludzi in Polish.
Alexander the Great carried it out of Macedon and across Persia, and his fame did much of the work of spreading it. English speakers and Germans took the name up early and held onto it, from medieval kings to the Berlin square, Alexanderplatz, named in 1805 after the visiting Tsar Alexander I of Russia.
In Poland the name shifted its shape. On an official form it stands as the variant Aleksander, while daily speech wears it down to Olek, Oleś, or Aleks. Open a class register in Kraków and you may meet an Aleksander who answers to Olek, and behind that short syllable sits the old Greek word for defender of men.
How many people are named Alexander
1 in 1534 men in Poland is named Alexander. 13,925 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #316 among male names.
Alexander's popularity over time
177 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #198 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2000.
Where parents choose Alexander
Alexander is most popular in Opole, 55% above the national average (48 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Lower Silesian (+34%) and West Pomeranian (+30%). It is least common in Holy Cross and Podlaskie, 38% and 26% below average respectively.
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Opole
+55%1 in 960 babies
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Lower Silesian
+34%1 in 1,107 babies
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West Pomeranian
+30%1 in 1,141 babies
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Holy Cross
−38%1 in 2,410 babies
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Podlaskie
−26%1 in 1,994 babies
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Greater Poland
−23%1 in 1,922 babies
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Opole+55% 48 born1 in 960 babies+55%
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Lower Silesian+34% 142 born1 in 1,107 babies+34%
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West Pomeranian+30% 74 born1 in 1,141 babies+30%
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Lubusz+23% 41 born1 in 1,211 babies+23%
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Lesser Poland+18% 180 born1 in 1,261 babies+18%
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Masovian+1% 242 born1 in 1,464 babies+1%
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Łódź−2% 84 born1 in 1,509 babies−2%
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Lublin−5% 66 born1 in 1,556 babies−5%
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Subcarpathian−5% 77 born1 in 1,566 babies−5%
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Pomeranian−8% 91 born1 in 1,619 babies−8%
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Warmian-Masurian−9% 44 born1 in 1,632 babies−9%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian−12% 65 born1 in 1,683 babies−12%
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Silesian−13% 134 born1 in 1,698 babies−13%
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Greater Poland−23% 112 born1 in 1,922 babies−23%
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Podlaskie−26% 33 born1 in 1,994 babies−26%
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Holy Cross−38% 23 born1 in 2,410 babies−38%
Alexander as a middle name
Alexander is a first name for 13,925 men in Poland and a middle name for another 4,874, a 74/26 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 130th, between Lesław (5,041) and Wawrzyniec (4,829).
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#128 Ernest5,284
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#129 Lesław5,041
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#130 Alexander4,874
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#131 Wawrzyniec4,829
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#132 Tymoteusz4,716