Alexes
Derived from Greek for "defender of man", a masculine name.
Name Census estimates that about 818 living Americans carry the first name Alexes. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 83.4% of registrations being female. The average person named Alexes today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Alexes births was 1997 (62 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Alexes. 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.
People living today
818
~ 1 in 419,015 Americans
Peak year
1997
62 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2009 SSA rank
#9,018
Tracked since 1976
Gender
Gender distribution for Alexes
Alexes leans heavily female at 83.4% of total registrations, but 139 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Alexes as a male name
- Ranked #9,018 in 2009
- 8 male births in 2009
- Peak: 2000 (14 births)
Alexes as a female name
- Ranked #10,419 in 2011
- 10 female births in 2011
- Peak: 1994 (53 births)
Popularity
Alexes: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Alexes from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 429 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
Alexes 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 Alexes during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Alexes' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Alexes, while Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 28 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Alexes
The name Alexes has its origins in Ancient Greek, derived from the word "alexo", meaning "to defend" or "to protect". It is a variant of the more common name Alexander, which has its roots in the same Greek word. The name gained popularity in the 4th century BC, during the reign of Alexander the Great, one of the most famous military leaders in history.
Alexes was a name bestowed upon Greek and Roman men, particularly those who were warriors or soldiers. It was believed that the name would bring strength, courage, and protection to its bearer. In ancient texts and historical records, there are mentions of various individuals bearing the name Alexes, although they were not as prominent as those named Alexander.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Alexes comes from the 3rd century BC, when a Greek philosopher and mathematician named Alexes of Lamos lived. He was a student of the renowned mathematician Euclid and made significant contributions to the field of geometry.
In the 1st century AD, a Roman soldier named Alexes is mentioned in Tacitus' historical work, "Annals". He was part of the Roman legions stationed in Germania, and his name was recorded due to his participation in a military campaign against the Germanic tribes.
During the Byzantine Empire, a few notable individuals bore the name Alexes. One such person was Alexes Doukas, a military commander who lived in the 11th century. He played a crucial role in defending the empire against the Seljuk Turks and is mentioned in several Byzantine chronicles.
In the 15th century, an Italian humanist and scholar named Alexes Celadenus was born in Constantinople. He was known for his translations of Greek texts into Latin and his contributions to the Renaissance movement.
Another notable figure with the name Alexes was Alexes Tarnowski, a Polish nobleman and military leader who lived in the 16th century. He fought against the Crimean Tatars and the Russian Tsardom, earning a reputation as a skilled commander and defender of Poland.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who bore the name Alexes, a name that symbolized strength, protection, and valor, rooted in the ancient Greek language and culture.
People
Alexes + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Alexes 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
Alexes: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Alexes?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 818 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Alexes 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 419,015 US residents.
Is Alexes a common name?
We classify Alexes as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 839 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Alexes most popular?
The single biggest year for Alexes was 1997, when 62 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Alexes is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Alexes a female name?
Yes, 83.4% of people registered as Alexes 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.