girl's name
Alejandra
ah-leh-HAN-drah
- Origin Spanish
- Gender Girl
- Letters 9
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 55,224
the United States
#605
2025 births
Alejandra means defender of men, and the Spanish form lost a consonant Greek never had trouble with — Alexandros became Alejandro because Spanish shifted the sh sound to the throaty j it uses today.
- Alejandra is a name of Spanish origin.
- Peaked in 1994, when 2,223 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 6,822 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1900.
Alejandra over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1900s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1900s | 6 |
| 1910s | 82 |
| 1920s | 166 |
| 1930s | 129 |
| 1940s | 155 |
| 1950s | 160 |
| 1960s | 411 |
| 1970s | 2,092 |
| 1980s | 5,730 |
| 1990s | 19,272 |
| 2000s | 15,613 |
| 2010s | 7,600 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 3,129 |
What Alejandra means
Alejandra means defender of men. The Greek compound joins a verb meaning to ward off to the word for a man, so it describes an act of protection.
Where Alejandra comes from
Alejandra is the Spanish feminine of Alejandro, from the Greek Alexandros — alexein, to defend or ward off, joined to aner, andros, a man. The j is the result of a Spanish sound shift: the medieval x, pronounced sh, hardened into the modern throaty j, which is the same change that turned Mexico's x into its current sound. Alec, elsewhere on this site, is the Scottish short form of the same Greek name.
Alejandra in use
Alejandra peaked in the United States in 1994, when 2,223 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 605th in the United States on 486 births and 4087th in England and Wales on 6, across 55,224 lifetime births in two of the seven markets we track. Our records carry it from 1900.
How popular is Alejandra?
In 2025, Alejandra was given to 486 babies in the United States, ranking #605 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Alejandra is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Alejandra
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Alejandra also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Alejandra over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
2 nicknames for Alejandra
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Alejandra in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
- Asturian
- Alexandra
- Catalan
- Alexandra
- Czech
- Alexandra
- Dutch
- Alexandra
- Galician
- Alexandra
- German
- Alexandrine
- Greek
- Alexandra
- Italian
- Alessandra
- Slovak
- Alexandra
Sibling names for Alejandra
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Alejandra — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Alejandra
What does the name Alejandra mean?
Defender of men — the Greek alexein, to ward off, with andros, a man.
Why is there a j?
A Spanish sound shift hardened the medieval x, pronounced sh, into the modern j.
Is Alec related?
Yes — the Scottish short form of the same Greek name.
How popular is Alejandra?
605th in the United States, down from a 1994 peak of 2,223 births.
Is Alejandra a girl's or a boy's name?
Alejandra is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
What are the nicknames for Alejandra?
Alejandra is usually shortened to Ale and Sandra.
Is Alejandra a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Alejandra currently ranks #605 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.