Alex

Alex meaning

Alex is a Christian and international boy's name of Greek origin.

Man-defender; short form of Alexander (Greek Alexandros)

Also used to mean: defender of mankind

Alex is a short form of Alexander, from the Greek Alexandros. Strong's Concordance builds the Greek name from a root meaning to ward off and anēr, "man", and glosses it "man-defender", one who protects people; name lists give the same sense, "defender of mankind". The New Testament mentions several men called Alexander, among them a son of Simon of Cyrene, the man made to carry Jesus' cross (Mark 15:21). The name's wider fame comes from Alexander the Great, the Macedonian king whose campaigns reached the Punjab in 326 BCE. Alex is used on its own today, mainly for boys, and also as a short form of Alexandra for girls.

Source: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890), Greek Dictionary of the New Testament, G223 · entry Alexandros · See the entry · checked 25 Oct 2026

References: Strong's Greek 223, Alexandros (Bible Hub) · Mark 15:21 (KJV, Bible Hub) · Britannica, Alexander the Great

Popularity abroad

• #232 United States, boys 2025 (down 27 from 205 in 2024)
  US Social Security Administration
• #207 England and Wales, boys 2025
  Office for National Statistics

Official birth registrations. India publishes no national name statistics.

Spellings

Alex · Alec · Aleks

Related names

Also meaning courage

More names of Greek origin

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