Alejandro

Meaning of Alejandro

Alejandro, the lyrical Spanish form of Alexander, traces its roots to the ancient Greek Alexandros—“defender of mankind”—yet it wears its classical armor with a decidedly modern flourish. In Spanish-speaking households the name is voiced as ah-leh-HAHN-droh, the soft “j” rippling like a guitar string; in English, most parents settle for the straightforward al-uh-HAHN-droh, though the adventurous can still roll the final “r” for extra panache. The name carries a cosmopolitan résumé: it strides through literature (think Cervantes’ chivalric heroes), strolls across movie credits courtesy of Oscar-winning director Alejandro González Iñárritu, and even winks from pop culture in Lady Gaga’s ear-worm of the same title. Statistically, Alejandro has charted a steady climb on U.S. birth records since the 1960s, cresting in the early 2000s when it hovered just inside the Top 100, and though it has eased into the mid-hundreds today, it remains comfortably familiar without being overexposed—a sweet spot for parents who like their classics with a Latin lilt. All told, Alejandro feels both valorous and approachable: a name that defends, yes, but also invites, like an open courtyard in the late afternoon sun.

Pronunciation

Spanish

• Pronunced as ah-leh-HAHN-droh (/aleˈxandɡo/)

English

• Pronunced as al-uh-HAHN-droh (/ˈæləkˈzændrə/)

• Aleksandr
• Aleksei
• Alessandro
• Alexei
• Alexandro