Alexander/Xander or Lysander/Sandy?

[hopingforapeainapod]

DS2 due soon… I’ve always loved Alexander as a name but less of a fan of the nickname Alex, so would want to call him Xander (his brother also has a Z sound in his name, so I think they would go well together).

DH though thinks Xander is quite American, and has suggested Lysander as an alternative, with the nickname Sandy. I think Sandy is very sweet and I love the historical / literary associations of Lysander but I worry that a) Lysander is much more ‘out there’; b) Sandy is a more gender-neutral nickname and c) people will constantly mispronounce it as Ly-SARN-der rather than Ly-SAN-der.

Any thoughts??

I love Xander and was my boy name if id ever had a boy!

Sandy is a great name for a dog. I don’t think people would pronounce it Lysarnder… it’s not spelt like that, it’s not a hard one to pronounce properly.

I love Alexander /Xander but also Alex to. Really not keen on Lysander/Sandy at all

Lysander is fantastic!

Sandy is truly the next level in awfulness.

Sandy is a NN for Alexander. Not sure why you'd need to name your son Lysander instead of Alexander to use the name Sandy.

Sandy is a very well- known nickname for Alexander in Scotland if you want to have those two names. I love Sandy, but I find Lysander a bit much for my taste in names.

Sandy is often used as a short name for Alexander, I prefer that or Alex to Xander. I really don't like Lysander. But would definitely pronounce it with an a not an ar.

Why not Lysander/Xander?

Alexander shortened Xander.

Lysander is dreadful! 🙈

It's not a mispronunciation. If they say Alex-ARN-der they'll say Ly-SARN-der.

@hopingforapeainapod Are you the same OP (but with a name change) who already has a thread about the name Lysander?

If so, you have said on there that your elder son's name is Felix. I don't understand how you get a Z sound from Felix?

Yeah this seems the obvious combo

I don't know about that. In my southern accent, I'd say Alex-ahn-der, but Ly-san-der. Those would be the normal pronounciations round this way.

OP, I love Lysander, but it's a lot of name and many people aren't keen, so maybe skip it. Personally I really detest Xander. So I'd go for Alexander, nn Sandy, which is super cute.

Nope, that was me with a Felix and a potential Lysander and I was pretty surprised to see another Lysander thread on here! Maybe the start of the Lysander rise in popularity I’ve been expecting for over a decade!

As someone’s already pointed out, I have a Lysander thread running so obviously I’d choose Lysander. I love it, and I don’t worry about pronunciation because I live in an area where the third syllable of Alexander is pronounced like the word and, so I’d be surprised if people lengthened their a for Lysander. I also don’t love the nickname Xander. I much prefer Sandy or Sasha, but my first’s nickname came from nowhere we expected so I’m happy to go with the flow if we choose Lysander. I’d also want to use the full name as much as possible because I love it so much.

@snapesmanybuttons , Baby name explorer - Lysander. I don't think it's going to be popular any time soon.

Interesting variety of responses here! Basically Lysander is a long name so it would inevitably get shortened / need a nickname, and we don’t like Lyse / Anders / Andy so if we had to pick a nickname for Lysander we would go for Sandy - I am also very aware that Sandy is an obvious nickname for Alexander too!

Why does Lysander make me think of the bank Santander, in a way that Alexander doesn't.

Personally I'd go with Alexander and let it evolve Alex, Al, Alec, Lec, Lex, Xander, Sandy,

Wee Eck lol

Alexander and let him choose for himself what, if any, short version he wants. He might like Alex.

Lol its funny I've come across about 3 or 4 Als all known as Big Al, never wee Al

Sandy makes me think of Sandy Freckle in Kath and Kim.

Another Lysander? Are you the OP on yesterday’s thread with the older child called Felix?

@BreatheAndFocus no I’m not I just hadn’t spotted that thread - pure coincidence!

I personally think that Lysander sounds like something you take when you've got trapped gas. 😬