How common is Alex?

[lemoncurdcupcake]

for children under 5?

Alexander or Alexandra...but go by Alex rather than Xander/Sasha/Sandra/Lexi etc.

I keep hearing and reading it's been done to death/very common in the UK at the moment but other than one 10 year old who lives abroad I don't know a single one under the age of 30. Not one in our local primary school for example. Friend who is a nursery worker hasn't seen one in years either.

I have four colleagues. 3 of them are either varying degrees of Alex or their children are.

There are two in my DS’ childminder cohort (out of six children!)

Both are 15 month old boys. It’s a lovely, timeless name so has always been popular.

I don’t think I know of any little ones at all… or even young ones for that matter! I know really quite a few (understatement!) around my age (31) and older but I don’t think it’s so commonly used for babies these days.

It is my DS(11) middle name and I’ve never come across another boy of the same name.

I’ve never heard of it being done to death either, but then you can say that about all the Oliver’s and Lily’s too - my view is if you like it then use it and don’t worry about popularity or if other people hate it/think it’s dated etc.

Two colleagues of mine have Alexanders under five. It is a common name but I think it’s nice that it isn’t tied to either sex or any particular generation — anyone could be an Alex!

@SparklyBrickViper I know a fair few adults of both genders but reading these forums suggests it's becoming very overused for the current generation. Which doesn't match my experience 😅

Thanks @franksmama. Agree it's timeless, one of the oldest names still widely in use I believe. Just wondering if it's one of those which is popular on name forums but not necessarily matched with real world examples.

It's our front runner at the moment, but wouldn't want it to be like I was where I was one of 5 in my year at school.

1 in my DS1 year - age 17
1 in my DS2 year - age 13

colleague son has it as a middle name.

not overly popular here. Worcestershire but lovely name

All male Alex

I'm just wondering if it's regional ~ I think Alexander/Alexandra are traditional in Scotland so there may be more Alex's there than in other parts of the UK?

My Ds13 has 7 Sebastian’s in his year group of 90 😂

There are 3 Alexes in my 11yo's class and one in my 9yo's.

Unfortunately this only goes up to 2016, but all forms of Alex/Alexander/Alexandra are consistently in the top 100. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/articles/babynamessince1904howhasyoursperformed/2016-09-02

The main one which has declined for obvious reasons is Alexa.

When I was a teacher, I taught two boys called Alex in the same class. They’d be 11/12 now. I also have a friend with a 5yo Alex. All boys.

I think it’s a fairly timeless name. I knew a few at school when I was there and I’m in my 30s.

names.darkgreener.com/#alex

It's a really plain choice of name.

One colleague in their 30’s is an Alex.
ones son is approaching 21.
Ones son is 8.

Think there are 2 (possibly 3) in my nephews years (he is 6).

Great classic name that suits a 1 year old as much as a 90 year old. Popular but not done to death like Jack. Although I’d much rather my kid had a “plain” name like Alex or Jack than an ultra fashionable one or obscure one that everyone has to ask to spell (I speak from experience on the latter here!)

But these days there is much more diversity in naming compared to when we were at school anyway. If you compare these lists today to the ones from the 90s or even more so for older ones, you'll see that the top names in the past used to occupy a much larger percentage than they do today.

https://www.behindthename.com/top/lists/england-wales/2024

For example in 1996, the top 5 boys' names covered nearly 15% of all names given that year, whereas for 2024, the top 5 are only 6.6% of all names given. And this includes Muhammad which is an outlier because many Muslim parents use this name for boys as their official name but call them another name day to day. The top 5 names (apart from Muhammad) are all about 1% each, which in 1996, was more like the names at rank 15-25.

In 2024 Alexander was at position 36 and used for 0.45% of boys. This is about as prevalent as Dominic or Nicholas in 1996.

I think it’s taking off currently so if you’re keen to avoid a common name I would rethink. It’s usually not obvious that you have stumbled across a popular name until couple years after you have chosen it. But in last couple weeks I noticed 2 little boys born within 3 days of each other on my social media were called Alex!

There’s been at least one, and sometimes as many as four Alex/ Alexanders in every year group I have taught for the last 15 years KS2).

Alexander 36th most popular name (in England and Wales 2024)
Alexandra 215th
Alex (boy) 171st
Alex (girl) 2253rd

One male Alex in both my DC's classes.

I know a 2 year old Alex (Alexander) and then I know a fair few Alex’s male and female in their 30s and beyond. It’s a classic name that will stand the test of time. I’m in baby groups and also have a child at nursery and there are other names I hear more but overall the variation of names is pretty big with not that many repeats.

One person's 'plain' is another person's 'classic'.

I know 2 child Alex's - aged 11/12 and 2 adult male Alex's and one adult Alexandra. It's not overused imo - unless you choose a very unusual name, you will always come across someone who shares your choice!

@Aiming4Optimistic thank you, I was wondering whether to respond to that comment but you've worded it so nicely I don't think I need to anymore!

We chose an unusual name for our first, hadn't ever heard of another one except DH's grandfather. Fast forward 7 years and we know about 11 of them! So this time I'm less fussed about it being too unusual. But would be nice to find the sweet spot between unusual and overly popular.

@BertieBotts thanks for the stats, that's an interesting way of viewing it!

@DelphiniumBlue that's George around by me, closely followed by Arthur.

My child had three Alexanders and one Alexandra, in a class of 29 children.