Alex

Additional information: The name Alex is usually considered to be a short form name for any given name beginning with “Alex”. Most commonly it is short for either the masculine Alexander or the feminine Alexandra or Alexandria. It can also be the shortened version of the Russian name Alexey, Spanish names Alejandro or Alexandro or Greek Alexandros. No matter what it is short for, all of these names lead back to the same ancient Greek source. The meaning of the name is “Defender”. Alexander the Great, King of the enormous Macedon Empire in the 4^th century BC, is the most notable bearer of the name.

Feminine forms of Alex can be Alexa and Alexis. In Scotland the name is sometimes given as Alec or Aleck instead, although this is just another form of Alex. There are no common short forms of Alex, as this name is already a short form of a longer name.

The popularity of the name Alex was highest in the recorded history in the state of Catalonia where it was ranked as the 2^nd most popular name from 2003 until 2012. It was also very popular in Ireland in 2010 where it was ranked as the 8^th most popular male name. In Northern Ireland, Alex was ranked as the 57^th most popular girl's name in 2004, surpassing the popularity as a boy's name which sat at the 69^th place that same year. In 2014 it was ranked as the 128^th most popular boy’s name in the US, the 75^th in England and Wales, the 64^th in Belgium, the 4^th in Catalonia, 81^st in Chile, 46^th in the Czech Republic, 20^th in Galacia, 40^th in Hungary, 12^th in Ireland, 42^nd in Northern Ireland, and 20^th in Spain.

Famous people and celebrities, both male and female, that share the name Alex include Alex Gaskarth, a rock singer; Alex Morgan, a soccer player; Alex Pettyfor, an actor; Alex Rodriguez, a baseball player; Alex Ferguson, an ex-soccer coach; Alex Wolff, a drummer; and Alex Trebek, a game show host.