A , English, German and Dutch surname, Alexander comes from the ancient Greek name of ''Alexandros'. It means the of men or the enemy. The term 'alexein' means to repel and 'andros' and 'aner' means man or male. The early Gaelic form was ‘Alasdair’ McAllister spelling is used in Ireland and Scotland.

Alexander in Spain is spelled Alejandro. In Italy it is spelled Alessandro and in Greece it is Alexandropoulos. The Russian form of Alexander is Aleksand, the Arabic form is Iskandar, the Finnish form is Aleksanteri and the Welsh language form of Alexander is Alecsander.

Within the United States the surname of Alexander is located mostly in Tennessee, North Carolina, Missouri, Illinois, Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York.

In England, the London region as well as Yorkshire, Northumberland and Lancashire have the higher numbers of those with the Alexander surname. In Scotland the surname is found in Lanarkshire, Midlowthian, Ayrshire and Renfrewshire counties.

Famous: Barton S. Alexander (Civil War Union Army brigadier general), Fred Alexander rugby player for South Africa), Grover Cleveland Alexander (professional baseball player), Patrick Young Alexander (English pioneer in aviation), Ross Alexander (English actor), Peter Alexander (artist) and Devon Alexander (professional boxer).