Head to head · Boys' names
Alejandro vs Knox
#195 vs #196 in 2025
Alejandro is a whisker ahead (#195 vs #196 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Alejandro is holding its place on the charts, Knox is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Knox has the edge.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Alejandro leads 4 measures of 6; Knox leads 2.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Alejandro #929, Knox #734 — Knox higher
- 1890s: Alejandro #1058, Knox #1101 — Alejandro higher
- 1900s: Alejandro #996, Knox #1148 — Alejandro higher
- 1910s: Alejandro #1273, Knox #1998 — Alejandro higher
- 1920s: Alejandro #777, Knox #1952 — Alejandro higher
- 1930s: Alejandro #691, Knox #2549 — Alejandro higher
- 1940s: Alejandro #676, Knox #2365 — Alejandro higher
- 1950s: Alejandro #567, Knox #2633 — Alejandro higher
- 1960s: Alejandro #457, Knox #3425 — Alejandro higher
- 1970s: Alejandro #241, Knox #4195 — Alejandro higher
- 1980s: Alejandro #175, Knox #6244 — Alejandro higher
- 1990s: Alejandro #106, Knox #5250 — Alejandro higher
- 2000s: Alejandro #99, Knox #2536 — Alejandro higher
- 2010s: Alejandro #167, Knox #309 — Alejandro higher
- 2020s: Alejandro #199, Knox #212 — Alejandro higher
Alejandro stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Alejandro has held the lead since the 1890s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Alejandro | Knox |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #929 | #734 |
| 1890s | #1058 | #1101 |
| 1900s | #996 | #1148 |
| 1910s | #1273 | #1998 |
| 1920s | #777 | #1952 |
| 1930s | #691 | #2549 |
| 1940s | #676 | #2365 |
| 1950s | #567 | #2633 |
| 1960s | #457 | #3425 |
| 1970s | #241 | #4195 |
| 1980s | #175 | #6244 |
| 1990s | #106 | #5250 |
| 2000s | #99 | #2536 |
| 2010s | #167 | #309 |
| 2020s | #199 | #212 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Alejandro
Defender of men
The Greek elements are a verb about defending and the word for men, and the reading is not disputed. Spanish arrived at its form by a regular sound change and the meaning traveled unchanged.
Alexandros → Alexander → Alejandro
How it traveled
A pope of this name, elected after a conclave that nobody has ever described as clean, had several acknowledged children, promoted them energetically, and in the year after Columbus returned issued the bulls that divided the newly encountered world between Spain and Portugal along a line drawn in the Atlantic. Portugal negotiated the line further west the following year, which is the reason Brazil speaks Portuguese.
Knox
Round hill, hillock
From Old English cnocc, 'hillock', by way of Scottish place names such as Knock in Renfrewshire.
cnocc (Old English, 'hillock') → Knock (Scottish place name) → de Knoc → Knox (surname) → Knox (given name)
How it traveled
Knox is a Scottish surname taken from places named for a small round hill — Old English cnocc, borrowed into Scots. Families living at such a hill became de Knoc and then Knox, and the name spread through the Lowlands, into Ulster, and from there to the American colonies.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Alejandro
ah-leh-HAN-droh
Four syllables with the stress on the third. The j is said in the throat, closer to an h than to anything English writes with a j.
- Alex — The front clipped, understood everywhere and unisex in English.
- Jandro — The back of the name, the usual Spanish shortening.
- Ale — Said AH-leh, the commonest Spanish short form.
Knox
NOKS
The K is silent, as in knot and knee. One syllable everywhere in English; no competing pronunciations.
- Knoxie — Informal, mostly used with small children by family; rarely survives into school years.
- K — An initial used casually among friends and teammates rather than a true short form.
Who has carried each name
Alejandro
Alejandro González Iñárritu (b. 1963) — Won back-to-back Best Director Oscars
Knox
No documented entry for Knox yet.
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Alejandro if you want…
- a name holding steadyAlejandro is holding its place on the charts
- a name with more sound in itAlejandro runs 4 syllables, Knox 1
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 25% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 49% for Knox
Choose Knox if you want…
- a name on the way upup 42 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesKnox is 1 syllable to Alejandro's 4
- a name that feels very nowKnox is climbing the charts fast
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Alejandro
Strengths
- The meaning is settled, strong and understood across the world.
- It has native forms in every European language.
- It carries several short forms with very different registers.
To consider
- English speakers will say the j as an English j, which is not how it is said.
- It is long, and a short form will do most of the work.
- The spelling is recorded for both sexes, though the boys hold nearly all of it.
Knox
Strengths
- One syllable and one accepted pronunciation — no regional variants to correct.
- Short and easy to write, which matters for a child learning to sign their own name.
- A documented surname record stretching back centuries in Scotland, and long familiar on the American map.
To consider
- The silent K trips people who hear it before they see it, so expect to spell it out on forms and over the phone now and then.
- It is already as short as it goes. There is no gentler or longer version to fall back on — no formal form for a résumé, no softer form for a toddler.
- The final -x can collide with surnames beginning in s or z. Say the full name aloud a few times before deciding.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Alejandro
25%chance Alejandro feels dated by 2040
Alejandro peaked long ago yet still holds steady — names that survive their own wave usually settle into quiet, durable classics.
Knox
49%chance Knox feels dated by 2040
Knox is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Alejandro and Knox in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Long and elegant: names with room to breathe
- Vowel names: soft starts from A to O
- Four-syllable names that carry
- Nine-letter names, the long end of the chart
- all guides
Where Alejandro and Knox each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Alejandro or Knox — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Alejandro or Knox?
- Alejandro, in 2025: Alejandro ranked #195 with 1,842 babies; Knox ranked #196 with 1,836 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Alejandro or Knox?
- Knox. Over the last five years Alejandro moved up 17 places; Knox moved up 42 places.
- Which is the older name, Alejandro or Knox?
- Alejandro entered the US charts in 1885; Knox entered the US charts in 1881. On the American record, Knox is the older name.
- How many people are named Alejandro and Knox?
- About 140,000 people named Alejandro are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 23,500 people named Knox are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Alejandros or Knoxs in the classroom?
- Alejandro will almost certainly be the only one in school. Knox will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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