Alex

Short form of Alexander, from Ancient Greek Ἀλέξανδρος (Aléxandros) 'he who wards off men', i.e. protector, possibly of Hittite origin. Also from Alexius, from the same Ancient Greek first element, "helping, defending". These two origins of Alex are indistinguishable in most languages. The female name has the same root, shortened from Alexandra or the female name Alexis, in some cases also a spelling variant of Alix.

• (Received Pronunciation, US) IPA^(key): /ˈæ.lɪks/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ælɪks

Alex

1. A male given name from Ancient Greek.
   • 2006, Kate Atkinson, One Good Turn, Black Swan, published 2007, →ISBN, page 81:

     Martin was pretty dull as names went but 'Alex Blake' had a certain dash to it. His publishers hadn't considered Martin's own name to be 'punchy' enough. The pseudonym Alex Blake was chosen after much deliberation, most of which excluded Martin. 'A strong, no-nonsense sort of name', his editor said, 'to compensate'. For what, she didn't say.

2. A female given name from Ancient Greek.
   • 2008, Philip Hensher, The Northern Clemency, HarperCollins, →ISBN, page 588:

     'I had a Christmas card from someone calling herself Alex the year before last,' Daniel said. 'I couldn't think who it was.'
     'Oh, yes, she's changed again,' Alice said. 'I never got used to Alexandra, either. It never occurred to me that Sandra was short for Alexandra - anyway, she's Sandra on her birth certificate.'

3. A nickname for Alexandria. (city in Egypt)

• Axel, Lexa, axel, axle

Alex

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Alex

Short form of Alexander.

• IPA^(key): /ˈaːlɛks/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Alex

Alex m

1. a male given name

• J. van der Schaar, “Woordenboek van voornamen”, Utrecht, Antwerpen 1964, Aula-boeken 176, Uitgeverij Het Spectrum

Probably from Swedish Alex and/or English Alex.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑleks/, [ˈɑ̝le̞ks̠]
• Rhymes: -ɑleks
• Syllabification^(key): A‧lex

Alex

1. a male given name of rare usage, variant of Aleksi

• Alex is the 143^rd most common male given name in Finland, belonging to 4,353 male individuals (and as a middle name to 1,822 more), and also belongs to 78 female individuals (and as a middle name to 38 more), according to February 2023 data from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency of Finland.

Short form of Alexandre and Alexis or Alexandra, ultimately from Ancient Greek.

• IPA^(key): /a.lɛks/

Alex m or f

1. a male or female given name, equivalent to English Alex

• Axel

• IPA^(key): /ˈalɛks/ (most regions)
• IPA^(key): /ˈaːlɛks/ (predominant in northern Germany)

  • Audio

    (file)

Alex m (proper noun, strong, genitive Alex')

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Alex

• IPA^(key): [ˈɒlɛks]
• Hyphenation: Alex
• Rhymes: -ɛks

Alex

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Alex

Alex m

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Alex

Alex c (genitive Alex)

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Alex

• Axel, axel