Aleksander
Variant of the masculine name Alexander, derived from the Greek meaning "defender of mankind".
Name Census estimates that about 3,981 living Americans carry the first name Aleksander. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Aleksander today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aleksander births was 2014 (171 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aleksander. 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 Aleksander with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Aleksander is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
4.0K
~ 1 in 86,098 Americans
Peak year
2014
171 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,671
Tracked since 1918
Census
Aleksander in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,472 people with the first name Aleksander, which placed it at #4,250 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
#4,250
National first-name rank
People counted
4.5K
4,472 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
83.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Aleksander
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aleksander is White at 83.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.3%) and Two or More Races (4.0%). 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 Aleksander 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 Aleksander at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.6% · 3,739
- Hispanic or Latino10.3% · 459
- Two or more races4.0% · 181
- Black or African American1.0% · 45
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 45
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 3
Popularity
Aleksander: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aleksander from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,480 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Aleksander remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Aleksander 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 Aleksander during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aleksanders live
The SSA's state-level files cover 22 states and territories. California, Illinois, New York recorded the most babies named Aleksander, while Utah, Wisconsin, Oregon recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 108 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Aleksander
The name Aleksander has its origins in the Greek language, derived from the words "alexo" meaning "to defend" and "andros" meaning "man." It is believed to have been in use as early as the 4th century BC in ancient Greece and Macedonia. The name was popularized by Alexander the Great, one of the most renowned military leaders in history, who lived from 356 BC to 323 BC and conquered a vast empire stretching from Greece to India.
In ancient texts, the name Aleksander appears in various forms, such as "Alexandros" or "Alexandrus," reflecting regional variations in pronunciation and spelling. It was a common name among the Macedonian ruling class and aristocracy, but its popularity spread throughout the Hellenistic world following Alexander the Great's conquests.
The name Aleksander gained further prominence in the Christian tradition, with several early saints and martyrs bearing the name. One notable figure was Saint Alexander of Alexandria, a 3rd-century Patriarch of Alexandria who played a crucial role in the formulation of the Nicene Creed.
Throughout history, numerous rulers, military leaders, and influential figures have carried the name Aleksander. In the 14th century, Aleksander Mikhailovich was the Grand Prince of Tver and a prominent figure in the struggle against the Mongol Golden Horde. Aleksander Nevsky, a 13th-century prince who led Russian forces against Swedish and German invaders, was canonized as a saint in the Russian Orthodox Church.
In the 16th century, Aleksander Jagiellon was the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, known for his efforts to reform the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Aleksander Pushkin, born in 1799, was a renowned Russian poet and writer who is considered the founder of modern Russian literature.
Another notable figure was Aleksander Graham Bell, the Scottish-born inventor best known for patenting the first practical telephone in 1876. Aleksander Solzhenitsyn, a Russian novelist and critic of the Soviet regime, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970 for his literary works and commitment to human rights.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals throughout history who have borne the name Aleksander, reflecting its enduring popularity and significance across various cultures and time periods.
People
Aleksander + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aleksander 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
Aleksander: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aleksander?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,981 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aleksander 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 86,098 US residents.
Is Aleksander a common name?
We classify Aleksander as "Rare". It ranks above 96% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,040 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aleksander most popular?
The single biggest year for Aleksander was 2014, when 171 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aleksander is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Aleksander in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,472 people with the name Aleksander, or 1.48 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,250 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 Aleksander 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 Aleksander?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Aleksander appears almost entirely male. Of the 4,473 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Aleksander?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aleksander is White at 83.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.3%) and Two or More Races (4.0%). 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 Aleksander most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Aleksander in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.6% (3,739 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 Aleksander in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Aleksander a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Aleksander 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 Aleksander still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Aleksander 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 Aleksander 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 share the name Aleksander?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.