Do you know/have you met anyone called Xan?

[IamnotwhouthinkIam]

I'm considering this name for my DS - I like that it's short and simple but uncommon (and as a bonus kind of cool sounding, at least according to Nameberry ). Does anyone know one? If so do they like it or have any issues with their name that you know of?

The "Xan" for Xanax nn thing doesn't really bother me (since we are in the UK and rarely travel to the US) and he would be Alexander on the birth certificate for CV purposes or if he wanted a change when older anyway.

Thanks for your help .

[ScratchnSniff]

I know a Xan - short for Alexander. He’s British and upper class if that means anything- used all the way through boarding school and uni. It’s a fairly common abbreviation - maybe less so for the general population.

[IamnotwhouthinkIam]

Thanks for more replies and help

Very interesting to know @ScratchnSniff - I wondered if it was more an upper class thing, as googling the name seems to bring up Xan Windsor (extended Royal family) as well as various computer game characters (probably explaining the "cool" factor Nameberry mentions). Still, these names tend to "trickle down" don't they - so hopefully it wouldn't be silly to use it for Alexander even though our family is ordinary lower/middle class.

[Trixiefirecracker]

My relative is Xan, it’s short for Xanthe.

[FissionMailed]

I knew a woman called Xan.
She was "Quirky" but not naturally so, she really forced it in a cringey "look how quirky I am" way.
She insisted that her name was pronounced 'Ex-Anne"

[Hersetta427]

Agree is sounds like you are trying too hard. I personally hate cutesy nicknames. Just call him Alex.

[CouncilHousedAndViolentBaby]

He would get called Xanny by most people I know and we're in England

[claymodels]

@IamnotwhouthinkIam

Sorry, missed last comment - pronounced "Zan" as most people say "Al -ee- zan- der" where we live, not "Al -ee- zarn- der".

I'm in Scotland where there are plenty Alexanders and I have never heard it pronounced al - ee

It's Alex al-ex-ander

[Tee20x]

I knew a xian pronounced zan

[WhatsWrongWithMyUsername]

I like it, as a shortening for Alexander it allows for other future options too. I do particularly like Xander.

[Tulips21]

I know a xanthe, known as Xan

[EdithWeston]

It's rather Jilly Cooper (the brother in 'Octavia') and has always struck me as a bit posh.

I know one, who is an Alexander usually known as Xander, which sometimes gets chopped down even further to Xan

[averythinline]

Sandy is my favourite shortening of Alexander... Xan is ok but would assume Chinese...know a couple of Lexi's as well as Alex's..but its a classic name so lots of variations

[afrikat]

We have a Xander who we often call Xan. Full name Alexander. Mumsnet generally seems to hate it but it suits him and people often tell us they love his name
If you like it, go for it

[IamnotwhouthinkIam]

No need to be rude and xenophobic @GreyhoundG1rl . This is simply how my friends and relatives tend pronounce it (we have my one in the extended family - we are not all British), I have heard it as "Alix -ann- der" too - I was simply trying to explain we don't use the "Zarnder" pronunciation so the nn would be "Zan" not "Zarn".

Thanks to all who were more helpful and gave their views (even negative ones, fair enough not everyone will like the same thing but it's possible to be polite) without making assumptions about my heritage.

[claymodels]

I don't understand the zander v zarnder thing - who is saying zarn

[IamnotwhouthinkIam]

@claymodels

I don't understand the zander v zarnder thing - who is saying zarn

On Pointless (TV) Alexander Armstrong says his name more as "Ali -zarn- der" and co -host Richard calls him "Zarnder". As I said, my family are not all British, so I thought this might be a reasonably common (Southern England?) thing for other people and was trying to explain to a pp how Xan would would be pronounced for us since they asked.

For the question "Does anybody know/met a Xan?" this thread has surely derailed ....

[CovidCorvid]

I have an Alexander cousin who is known as Xan or sometimes Xander. Never been an issue.

[MurielSpriggs]

@claymodels

I don't understand the zander v zarnder thing - who is saying zarn

Posh people would definitely say Alec-zarnder, and are particularly drawn to Xander as a diminutive, but inexplicably never pronounce it Zarnder (maybe the ones I know aren't quite posh enough)

Incidentally, I remember once working through a case study with some university students which involved a character called Xavier, whose name was pronounced exaviour by a significant number of them. Just be aware of the exan possibilities!

[IamnotwhouthinkIam]

I've reported you @GreyhoundG1rl - living in the UK does not mean my family is British and I find your casual xenophobia very upsetting. It is perfectly easy to say you don't like a name without insulting peoples family heritage - that they can't pronounce a name "properly" - do you feel that way about everyone with a different accent to you? .

[Rockandgrohl]

m.youtube.com/watch?v=zUtae-kWCYQ

He definitely pronounces the "X" sorry OP. Al-ex-ahn-der. But I do get what you mean and think iys just a regional thing.

[IamnotwhouthinkIam]

Good to know @Rockandgrohl - my family are a mix of Romanian, Japanese, Kenyan and White British (although we live in the UK (Wales) as I mentioned in my OP) so the different pronunciations are interesting if slightly confusing to me, although my purpose on starting the thread was to see if other people knew any "Xan's!"

[GreyhoundG1rl]

You should preface your posts with "Only the divinely inspired post here", op.
Or you could try the tried and tested method of putting all relevant information in the actual post?
Works for most people 🤷🏻‍♀️