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Biography
About|the male first nameInfobox given name2|name = Alexander|image = Rubens - Judgement of Paris.jpg|caption = Paris (mythology)|Paris , depicted in this c. 1636 painting by Peter Paul Rubens making his famous Judgment of Paris|judgment , was given the surname Alexander as a child when he routed a gang of cattle-thieves.|pronunciation = IPAc-en|'|ๆ|l|?|k|s|'|ๆ|n|d|?r|gender = Masculine, the feminine variant being Alexandra .|meaning = "Defender, protector of man".|language = From the Latin Alexander , itself based upon the Greek language|Greek Alexandros , from alexein meaning "to ward off, keep off, turn away, defend, protect" and aner meaning "man".|seealso = Alexander (IPAc-en|icon|'|ๆ|l|?|k|s|'|ๆ|n|d|?r) is a common male first name, and less common Alexander (surname)|surname . The most famous is Alexander the Great|Alexander III of Macedon , commonly known as Alexander the Great , who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.
Origin
Etymology|Etymologically , the name is derived from the Greek language|Greek "????a?d???" (Al้xandros), meaning "defending men" http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text? doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Da%29le%2Fcandros ????a?d???, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon , on Perseus Digital Library or "protector of men", a compound of the verb "?????" (alexo), "to ward off, to avert, to defend" http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text? doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Da%29le%2Fcw ?????, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon , on Perseus Digital Library and the noun "??d???" (andros), genitive of "????" (aner), "man". http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text? doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Da%29nh%2Fr ????, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon , on Perseus Digital Library It is an example of the widespread motif of Greek (or Indo-European more generally) names expressing "battle-prowess", in this case the ability to withstand or push back an enemy shield wall|battle line .
The earliest attested form of the name is the Mycenaean Greek feminine noun a-re-ka-sa-da-ra , (transliterated as Alexandra ), written in Linear B syllabic script. http://www.palaeolexicon.com/default.aspx? static=12& wid=217 a-re-ka-sa-da-ra (Alexandra) Palaeolexicon, Word study tool of ancient languages http://web.archive.org/web/20080627021042/ http://www.geocities.com/kurogr/linearb.pdf Mycenaean (Linear B)& nbsp; English Glossary The Mycenaean World , John Chadwick , New York: Cambridge University Press, 1976, 1999
The name was one of the titles ("epithets") given to the Greek goddess Hera and as such is usually taken to mean "one who comes to save warriors". In the Iliad , the character Paris (mythology)|Paris is known also as Alexander. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text? doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0073%3Aentry%3D*%29ale%2Fcandros ????a?d???, Georg Autenrieth, A Homeric Dictionary , on Perseus Digital Library The name's popularity was spread throughout the Greek world by the military conquests of Alexander the Great|King Alexander III, commonly known as "Alexander the Great" . Most later Alexanders in various countries were directly or indirectly named for him.citation needed|date=June 2010
People known as Alexander
Alexander has been the name of many rulers, including kings of Macedon, kings of List of Scottish monarchs|Scotland , emperors of Russian Empire|Russia and List of popes|popes .
Rulers of antiquity
Alaksandu , c. 1280& nbsp;BC
Alexander, more often known as Paris of Troy
Alexander of Corinth , 10th king of Ancient Corinth|Corinth (816791& nbsp;BC)
Alexander I of Macedon
Alexander II of Macedon
Alexander of Pherae despot of Pherae between 369 and 358& nbsp;BC
Alexander I of Epirus king of Epirus about 342& nbsp;BC
Alexander the Great (Alexander III of Macedon), King of Macedon, 356323& nbsp;BC
Alexander IV of Macedon
Alexander V of Macedon
Alexander II of Epirus king of Epirus 272& nbsp;BC
Alexander, viceroy of Antigonus Gonatas and ruler of a rump state based on Corinth c. 250& nbsp;BC
Alexander Balas , ruler of the Seleucid kingdom of Syria between 150 and 146& nbsp;BC
Alexander Zabinas , ruler of part of the Seleucid kingdom of Syria based in Antioch between 128 and 123& nbsp;BC
Alexander Jannaeus king of Judea, 103-76& nbsp;BC
Alexander of Judaea , son of Aristobulus II, king of Judaea
Alexander Severus , (208235), Roman Empire
Domitius Alexander , Roman usurper who declared himself emperor in 308
Aleksandar Djordjevic (born 1967), Serbian basketball player
Lex van Dam (Born 1968), Dutch trader and TV personality
Alexander McQueen (19692010), British fashion designer
Alexander Popov (swimmer) (born 1971) Russian swimmer
Aleksandr Averbukh , Israeli European champion pole vault er
Alexander Semin (born 1984), Russian hockey player for the Washington Capitals
Alexander Ovechkin (born 1985), Russian hockey player for the Washington Capitals
Alexander Nikolov (born 1987), American, well known NASCAR driver
Alexander Gustafsson (born 1987), Swedish mixed martial arts fighter
Alexander Shatilov (born 1987), Uzbek-Israeli artistic gymnast
Alexander Lee Eusebio (born 1988), also known as Alexander (or Xander), South Korean solo singer, ex-member of South Korean band U-KISS
Fictional people
Lex Luthor , the main super-villain of the Superman franchise
Alex DeLarge , the main character from the novel A Clockwork Orange and its film adaptation
Xander Harris , one of the main characters of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise
Alex Rider , the main character from the novel Stormbreaker and the film adaptation
Alexander Rozhenko , the Klingon son of Worf in the television series "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine"
Alexander Portnoy - Protagonist of Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth
Alex Cross , the main character of James Patterson's series of Alex Cross novels
Alex Summers, a mutant also known as Havok (comics)|Havok and brother to Scott Summers in X-Men
Alec Hardison, hacker in TNT's Leverage (TV series)
Alex Karev , one of the main characters on ABC's Grey's Anatomy .
Alex Mahone , one of the main characters on FOX's Prison Break .
Alexander Cabot III, the rich, cowardly manager in the Josie and the Pussycats comic books and television shows.
Alexander Anderson (Hellsing)|Alexander Anderson , superhuman warrior-priest in the anime/manga Hellsing , who opposes the Hellsing Organisation as the Vatican City|Vatican's most powerful anti-vampire specialist.
People with the surname Alexander
Ann Alexander Smith (born 1942), Louisiana educator
Archer Alexander (1828 c. 1880), former black slave who served as the model for the slave in the Emancipation Memorial statue http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archer_Alexander
Doc Alexander (18981975), American NFL All-Pro football player
Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis (18911969), British field marshal and Governor General of Canada
Michael Alexander (British Army officer) (19202004), British Army officer and writer
Moses Alexander (18531932), American Governor of Idaho
Lloyd Alexander (19242007), American fantasy author
Stephanie Alexander , Australian chef and food writer
Danny Alexander , British Politician
Shaun Alexander , NFL All-Pro runningback
R. McNeill Alexander , Scientist, expert in biomechanics
West Frisian language|West Frisian & nbsp; Aleksander
Yiddish & nbsp; ??????& nbsp; Sender, Senderl
See also
Alex
Lookfrom|Alexander
Hera Alexandros , epithet of the Greek goddess Hera
Given name|nocat
References
Reflist Geo-Alexander Category:Greek masculine given names Category:Given names of Greek language origin Category:Surnames Category:Given names Category:Masculine given names