Alexandra — Meaning, Origin & Everything to Know

Drawn from Greek, Alexandra means 'defender of the people' and has a character all its own. As a daughter's name, Alexandra suggests courage, strength and protection and travels comfortably across languages. Alexandra appeals to families after a name with real roots — here, the Greek word for 'defender of the people'.

What Does the Name Alexandra Mean?

The name Alexandra translates as 'defender of the people', a meaning inherited from Greek.

Historically, Alexandra took shape among Greek speakers, for whom naming a daughter was an act of meaning. As it travelled, Alexandra kept its 'defender of the people' sense intact, handed down to honour relatives and express a hope for the child.

Today Alexandra reads as approachable and contemporary, even though its meaning of 'defender of the people' is anything but new. It is exactly this balance that lifted Alexandra into wider use in the 2010s.

Symbolically, Alexandra leans toward courage, strength and protection, with its Greek roots adding heritage to that idea.

Origin & Etymology of Alexandra

Greek · Greek

Alexandra comes from Greek, where it means 'defender of the people'. As Greek communities moved and mixed, Alexandra travelled with them — sometimes keeping its spelling, sometimes adapting, but holding its meaning.

Within Greek culture, Alexandra connects to enduring values through its idea of courage, strength and protection.

How Greek names are chosen

Greek naming is close to an algorithm, which is why the same names recur down a family for centuries: the eldest son takes his paternal grandfather's name and the eldest daughter her paternal grandmother's, with later children drawing on the mother's side. The name is usually settled within the first week or ten days, the christening following at around forty days, and by custom the godfather has the final word. Because so many names are saints' names, most Greeks keep a name day — the saint's feast — as well as a birthday, and it is often the more sociable of the two. Regional patron saints show up plainly in the distribution: Spyridon clusters on Corfu, Gerasimos on Kefalonia, Dionysios on Zakynthos.

How to Pronounce Alexandra

A-le-xand-ra — Break Alexandra into A-le-xand-ra and it falls into place. From Greek roots: vowels are open and clearly sounded.