Aleks
A masculine form of the Greek name Alexandros meaning "defending men".
Name Census estimates that about 459 living Americans carry the first name Aleks. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Aleks today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aleks births was 2010 (36 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aleks. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Aleks with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
459
~ 1 in 746,741 Americans
Peak year
2010
36 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,312
Tracked since 1992
Census
Aleks in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,048 people with the first name Aleks, which placed it at #12,030 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#12,030
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,048 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Aleks
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aleks is White at 76.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (20.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Aleks described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Aleks at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.3% · 800
- Hispanic or Latino20.0% · 210
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.0% · 21
- Two or more races0.9% · 9
- Black or African American0.8% · 8
Popularity
Aleks: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aleks from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 200 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Aleks 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 Aleks during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aleks' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Aleks, while Illinois, Texas, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 21 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Aleks
The name Aleks originates from the Greek language and culture, with its roots traceable to the 4th century BC. It is a shortened form of the name Alexander, which is derived from the Greek words "alexein" meaning "to defend" and "andros" meaning "man." This combination creates the meaning "defender of men" or "protector of men."
Aleks gained prominence in ancient Greek mythology, where it was associated with Alexander the Great, the celebrated Macedonian king and conqueror who lived from 356-323 BC. His legendary military campaigns and conquests across Asia and North Africa contributed to the widespread dissemination of the name throughout the regions he conquered.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Aleks can be found in the works of the ancient Greek historian Plutarch, who chronicled the life of Alexander the Great in his famous work "Parallel Lives." Plutarch's detailed accounts of Alexander's exploits and leadership helped solidify the name's association with strength, courage, and military prowess.
Over the centuries, the name Aleks has been borne by numerous notable figures across various fields. One of the most famous was Aleks Petöfi, a Hungarian poet and revolutionary who lived from 1823 to 1849. His fiery patriotic verses and active participation in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 earned him a revered place in his nation's history.
Another prominent bearer of the name was Aleks Famintsyn, a Russian botanist and plant physiologist who lived from 1835 to 1918. His pioneering research on plant respiration and photosynthesis made significant contributions to the field of plant biology.
In the realm of sports, Aleks Koroljuk, a Ukrainian gymnast born in 1947, achieved remarkable success, winning multiple Olympic gold medals and cementing his place as one of the most accomplished gymnasts of his era.
The name Aleks has also been associated with notable literary figures, such as Aleks Remizov, a Russian writer and artist who lived from 1877 to 1957. His experimental prose and avant-garde style influenced the development of modern Russian literature.
Lastly, Aleks Petrovič, a Belarusian artist and painter who lived from 1892 to 1962, gained recognition for his distinctive cubist and expressionist works, which captured the essence of the Belarusian cultural identity.
These are just a few examples of the diverse individuals who have borne the name Aleks throughout history, each contributing to its enduring legacy and significance across various cultural and intellectual realms.
People
Aleks + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aleks 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
Aleks: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aleks?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 459 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aleks 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 746,741 US residents.
Is Aleks a common name?
We classify Aleks as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 464 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aleks most popular?
The single biggest year for Aleks was 2010, when 36 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aleks is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Aleks in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,048 people with the name Aleks, or 0.35 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,030 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Aleks in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Aleks?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Aleks leans strongly male. 963 people counted with this name were male (91.6%), compared with 88 female bearers (8.4%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Aleks?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aleks is White at 76.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (20.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Aleks most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Aleks in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.3% (800 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Aleks in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Aleks a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Aleks in the SSA data are male. 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.
Is Aleks still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Aleks in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Aleks can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people have the name Aleks?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.