Alex and Friends

Sasha in all its forms -- which include Sacha and Sascha -- is rising in popularity for both boys and girls. Its most prominent current bearer is Sacha Baron Cohen.

Sander is a more conventional form of Zander or Xander, heard frequently on its own in Europe. It is now a Top 20 name in Norway, and is also popular in Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands. 

Sander would be an unconventional short form of Alexandra, variation of Sandra, or surname-name for girls. It was given to 41 baby boys in the US last year but no girls, but it certainly can be a gender-neutral choice.

Sanders is one of the S-ending surnames gaining traction as a first name for boys in the US. It jumped nearly 2000 points in popularity this year.

2012's Hurricane Sandy blew away whatever style currency Sandra retained from its 1960s Sandra Dee heyday. While in recent years it's been associated with Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, as a baby name Sandra is sinking beneath the waves.

Lengthy, romantic Alessandro gives us the friendly and casual nickname Sandro, which works just as well as an independent name. It’s a popular international name, having ranked in Italy, France, Portugal, and Switzerland in recent years.

Often given as an independent name in Greece.

A sweet Scottish short form of Alexander which is feeling newly appealing now the era of Sandra is far behind us. Sandy would also work well as a nickname for a child with pale red or dark blond hair.

Nickname name hep in the era of Grease.

An alternative to Sasha, another common Russian nickname for Aleksandra.

In Europe, this name is mostly male, but here it's more fashionable for girls. It's a diminutive of Alexander.

The energetic Russian nickname name Sasha is being used increasingly on its own, though since the prominence of the First Daughter, more than 90% of the American babies named Sasha are girls. Sacha Baron Cohen bears one of the alternate spellings.

Sasha, largely male in Russia--and also spelled Sascha and Sacha--is an energetic name that has really taken off for girls here, chosen by Jerry Seinfeld (using the alternate Sascha spelling) and other celebs. The Barack Obamas use it as the nickname for their younger daughter, whose proper name is Natasha. But in line with a trend toward softer-sounding boys' names like Asher and Joshua and thanks to Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen, Sasha also still has life as a boys' name too--it's popular in France for boys and girls almost equally.

This cool, sauntering boy's name would fit in and stand out in a classroom today. Other similar diminutives more distinct than Xander or Zander include Saunders, Sander, and Sanders.

Preppier and less politically-charged than its source name, Sanders

Shura is a unisex Russian nickname for Aleksandr or Aleksandra, themselves forms of Alexander. Less known in the English=speaking world than Sasha, it's also more assertive -- probably because of that "sure" sound.

Shura is a unisex Russian nickname for Aleksandr or Aleksandra, themselves forms of Alexander. Less known in the English-speaking world than Sasha, it's also more assertive — probably because of that "sure" sound.

Urdu and Pashto form of Alexander

With the plethora of Alexes around, Xan (and Xander) have emerged as hot new nicknames for Alexander. Xan also stands well on its own. It can be found--not surprisingly--in several computer games.

Cool, gender-neutral short form of Alexandra and company.