Alejandra
Spanish feminine form of the masculine name Alejandro, meaning "defender of mankind".
Name Census estimates that about 52,043 living Americans carry the first name Alejandra. It is a predominantly female name (99.0% of registrations). The average person named Alejandra today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Alejandra births was 1994 (2,223 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Alejandra. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Although Alejandra is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 530 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
52K
~ 1 in 6,586 Americans
Peak year
1994
2,223 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2020 SSA rank
#576
Tracked since 1900
Gender
Gender distribution for Alejandra
Out of the 54,054 babies given the name Alejandra since 1880, 99.0% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Alejandra as a male name
- Ranked #12,107 in 2020
- 5 male births in 2020
- Peak: 1992 (37 births)
Alejandra as a female name
- Ranked #576 in 2024
- 523 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1994 (2,187 births)
Popularity
Alejandra: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Alejandra from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 19,271 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Alejandra by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Alejandra during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Alejandras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 40 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Alejandra, while Rhode Island, Delaware, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,296 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Alejandra
The name Alejandra is a Spanish feminine form of the masculine name Alejandro, which is derived from the Ancient Greek name Alexandros. The name Alexandros is composed of the elements alexo, meaning "to defend" or "to protect," and aner, meaning "man." Thus, the name Alejandra can be interpreted to mean "defender of man" or "protector of man."
The name Alejandra has its roots in the Hellenistic period, when the Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great conquered vast territories, spreading Greek culture and language across the Mediterranean region and beyond. The name Alejandra gained popularity in the areas influenced by Greek and later Roman civilizations, particularly in the Iberian Peninsula, which was under Roman rule for several centuries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Alejandra can be found in the 12th century, when a Spanish noblewoman named Alejandra de Castilla was mentioned in historical records. Another notable figure bearing this name was Alejandra Pizarro, a 16th-century Spanish conquistadora and the illegitimate daughter of the famous conquistador Francisco Pizarro.
Throughout history, several influential women have borne the name Alejandra. In the 19th century, Alejandra Arango Muñoz (1828-1891) was a prominent Colombian writer and activist who fought for women's rights and education. Another notable Alejandra was Alejandra Soler (1913-2017), a Mexican actress and singer who had a prolific career spanning over seven decades.
In the 20th century, Alejandra Soler (1913-2017), a Mexican actress and singer, enjoyed a remarkable career that spanned over seven decades. Alejandra Guzmán (born 1968), a Mexican singer and actress, has been a prominent figure in the Latin American entertainment industry for several decades.
One of the most famous historical figures with the name Alejandra was Alejandra Feodorovna (1872-1918), the last Empress of Russia. Born Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, she married Tsar Nicholas II and was tragically executed along with her husband and children during the Russian Revolution.
People
Alejandra + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Alejandra as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Alejandra: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Alejandra?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 52,043 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Alejandra going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 6,586 US residents.
Is Alejandra a common name?
We classify Alejandra as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 54,054 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Alejandra most popular?
The single biggest year for Alejandra was 1994, when 2,223 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Alejandra is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Alejandra a female name?
Yes, 99.0% of people registered as Alejandra in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.