girl's name

Alexandria

al-ig-ZAN-dree-uh

  • Origin Greek
  • Gender Girl
  • Syllables 5
  • Letters 10
  • Popularity Top 1000 (US)
  • Births on record 110,773

the United States

#474

2025 births

Alexandria is the city before it is the name — Alexander founded it in 331 BC, and the feminine given name was formed from the place rather than directly from Alexandra, which took a different route.

  • Alexandria is a name of Greek origin.
  • Peaked in 1993, when 5,042 babies were given the name.
  • It has been falling over the past decade.
  • Today about 1 in 5,124 babies in the United States is given this name.
  • First appears in US birth records in 1902.
  • 5 syllables, with the stress on syllable 3.

Alexandria 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.

44,183
'00 '10 '20 '30 '40 '50 '60 '70 '80 '90 '00 '10 '20
Show the numbers
Births named Alexandria by decade in the United States
Decade Births
1900s 49
1910s 297
1920s 341
1930s 182
1940s 326
1950s 410
1960s 726
1970s 1,523
1980s 11,733
1990s 44,183
2000s 25,979
2010s 14,302
2020s (to 2025) 4,727

What Alexandria means

Alexandria means defender of the people, through Alexander. The Greek joins a verb meaning to ward off to the word for a man, so the sense is one who defends.

Where Alexandria comes from

Alexandria is the Egyptian city Alexander founded in 331 BC, one of many he named for himself, and much the most successful — home of the Library and the Pharos lighthouse. The name descends from Alexandros, alexein, to defend, joined to aner, a man. Alexandria as a given name is largely modern and American, formed on the place rather than developed from Alexandra, which came through Greek and Russian usage. Both mean the same thing by different routes.

Alexandria in use

Alexandria peaked in the United States in 1993, when 5,042 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 474th in the United States on 647 births, 523rd in Scotland on 6 and 1443rd in England and Wales on 22, across 110,773 lifetime births in four of the seven markets we track. Scotland ranks it within 49 places of America.

How popular is Alexandria?

In 2025, Alexandria was given to 647 babies in the United States, ranking #474 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.

Where Alexandria is used

Northern Ireland #474 3 in 2023
United States #474 647 in 2025
Scotland #523 6 in 2024
Canada #662 44 in 2024
Ireland #827 4 in 2023
England & Wales #1,443 22 in 2025
France #7,360 5 in 2016

The bar shows how near the top of each country's list the name sits, on a scale where #1 fills the row and #1,000 is a sliver. The figures beside it are the real rank and the babies recorded that year.

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 Alexandria

These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.

Parents who like Alexandria also like

Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Alexandria over the last century — the same taste, a different name.

2 nicknames for Alexandria

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.

Every name with built-in nicknames →

Alexandria 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
Bulgarian
Aleksandra
Catalan
Alexandra
Galician
Alexandra
Italian
Alessandra
Latvian
Aleksandra
Russian
Aleksandra
Serbian
Aleksandra
Serbo-Croatian
Aleksandra
Slovene
Aleksandra

Sibling names for Alexandria

Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Alexandria — the two things that make a sibling set grate.

Common questions about Alexandria

What does the name Alexandria mean?

Defender of the people, through Alexander — alexein, to defend, joined to aner, a man.

Is Alexandria named after the city?

Yes. The given name was formed on the place, while Alexandra came through Greek and Russian usage.

How many cities did Alexander found?

Many, across his conquests. The Egyptian Alexandria is much the most successful of them.

How popular is Alexandria?

474th in the United States, down from a 1993 peak of 5,027 births.

Is Alexandria a girl's or a boy's name?

Alexandria is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.

How many syllables are in Alexandria?

Alexandria has 5 syllables.

What are the nicknames for Alexandria?

Alexandria is usually shortened to Alex and Lexi.

Is Alexandria a good name?

That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Alexandria currently ranks #474 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.