Skip to content
NameBattle
My names

Alek

Masculine · “defender of men”

Alek is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 4,563 boys against 86 girls since 1880.

1916high 1999
#2604 in the U.S.given to only a few children a year
rare50 boys in 2025

Alek is the Slavic clipping of Aleksander — defender of men — a name attested in Bronze Age Greek.

How old is the name Alek?

Alek first appears in US birth records in 1916 — 109 years ago. The typical Alek alive today was born around 2006, making them about 19 years old. About 4,500 people named Alek are estimated to be alive in the US today.

When was the name Alek most popular?

Alek peaked in 1994, reaching #935 nationally. Today it ranks #2604, 1,669 places below that high. See the whole 1994 chart.

Compare this nameMore “A” names

Alek appears on this list:

I

Where it comes from

The story of Alek

Alexandros appears on Mycenaean clay tablets, making it among the oldest continuously used names in Europe, and Homer uses it as a second name for Paris of Troy. Polish and Russian clip Aleksander to Alek and Alex. It appears in American records in current use.

Meaning

defender of men

Through Aleksander, from the Greek alexein, 'to defend', and aner, andros, 'man'. The name appears on Linear B tablets as Alexandros. Alek is the Polish and Slavic short form. The Greek is documented.

How the name formed

  1. Alexandros
  2. Aleksander
  3. Alek

Related forms: Alek · Alec · Aleksandr

Pronouncing Alek

AL-ek

Two syllables, stress on the first. Alek and Alec are homophones.

Nicknames for Alek

Moderate

AlecThe commoner English spelling of the same sound
AleksanderThe parent form, available as a fuller and grander version
II

What the data says

The long climb, and where it stands now

BOYS NAMED · 1916–20251547701545019162025

US babies named Alek per year from 1916 to 2025
AVERAGE RANK BY DECADE#1#10#100#1000#9351910s2020s

The same years in position rather than babies

First recorded
1916
Most boys named
1999154 — the highest on record
Peak rank
#935reached in 1994
Change vs 2024
−36.7%50 in 2025, from 79
Alek sits in the rare tail. Its best year on record was 1999, with 154 boys. Today it is given to few enough children that it does not enter the ranked charts at all.

Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.

Alek in other languages

The same name elsewhere

  • Alek in Polish — same name
  • Alec in English — spelling variant
  • Aleksandr in Russian — related form

Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.

Aleks among us

4,500

people named Alek are estimated to be alive in the US today

About 1 boy in 34,162 born in 2025 was named Alek

Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method

Spellings of Alek

#2604
Alek on the 2025 chart
#656
counting every spelling

The SSA counts spellings, not names. Alek went to 50 boys in 2025, but Alec is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 284, which makes it the 656th most-given boys’ name of the year — 1,948 places above the chart.

About 1 boy in 6,014 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 34,162 for Alek itself.

Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method

III

Is it right for you

The Larue test

Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Alek's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Larue climbed just as high around 1912, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Larue's path sketches the road Alek is walking now.

40%chance Alek will feel dated by 2040
Alek, aligned on its peakLarue· peak 1912not yet written
#1#10#100#1000peak-40 yrs+70 yrsLarue · #4362Alek today
Alek today is about where Larue stood in 1943 — 31 years past a #935-sized peak. By 1958, Larue had settled around #1768.
Ages quietlysteadyDates fast

Alek sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.

A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored

Where Alek is headed

19162030

US babies named Alek per year, 1916 to 2025, with a projection to 2030

Alek should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.

Steady-10% by 2030projected around #2,904 in 2030

Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.

A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.

Alek beside its neighbors

The names ranked closest to Alek in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.

Alekthis name50#2604Yahia50#2604Larson50#2604Mazin50#2604Rowe50#2604

US boys given each name in 2025.

The trade-off

Practical strengths
  • That the name is attested in Bronze Age Linear B is a first-rate fact.
  • Aleksander is available as a full formal version.
  • Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
What to consider
  • Alec is the commoner English spelling.
  • It reads as a clipping rather than a full name.
  • It reads as specifically Slavic in this spelling.

Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Alek to the vote.

Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.

Start a family voteSwipe together

Only the people you invite can see your list.

Already decided on Alek? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.

Or just send this page to someone:

WhatsAppPinterestFacebook

What they receive

Someone added a name to your list

Alek

Masculine · #2604 in the U.S.

♥ Love itNot for meLet’s talk about it
Add a note — what do you like about it?
Your shared list is empty. Alek would be the first name on it.

Frequently asked

How many Aleks are there in the world?
No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 4,500 people named Alek are estimated to be alive in the US today.
How do you spell Alek?
Alek is one of 2 recorded spellings. Alec is the more common one — 234 births in 2025 against 50 for Alek.
How popular is the name Alek in 2025?
Alek ranks #2604 among US boy names in 2025, with 50 babies given the name.
How rare is the name Alek?
About 1 in every 34,162 US boys born in 2025 was named Alek — 50 in all.
Will my child share the name Alek with classmates?
Alek will almost certainly be the only one in school.

Ranked beside Alek

Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.

Yahia#2604 · Larson#2604 · Mazin#2604 · Rowe#2604 · Hendrik#2604 · Dayvon#2604 · Kipton#2604 · Finlay#2604

Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Alek? See the current top 100.

Choosing between Alek and another name?

See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.

Compare side by side

In a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.

Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.

Cast your vote

Which one would you pick?

Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.

US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology

No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle