Masterpiece Generator Name Generator
How popular is the name Alex?
Births per year, rank history and how many Alexes are alive today.
Alex (male) sits just outside the top 100 boys' names in England and Wales, ranked 207th in 2025 with 243 babies given the name. The name peaked in 1996, when 1,762 babies were given the name, the 43rd most popular that year. It was almost as popular in 2008, with 1,611 babies given the name that year. It has declined since 1996; the 2025 figure is roughly 14% of its peak. Numbers have been falling in recent years. At least 48,000 babies have been named Alex in England and Wales since 1984. Figures before 1996 are estimates. Alex is also a common short form of Alexander, so many people called Alex are registered under the longer name.
The Alex you are most likely to meet is around 30 years old. Half of all Alexes born in England and Wales are between 18 and 35, and there are at least 53,000 of them alive today. If you walk into a room of 100 males, there's roughly a 16% chance that at least one of them will be called Alex.
How many babies are named Alex each year?
Where does Alex rank among boys' names?
Where this data comes from
Figures from 1996 onwards are the Office for National Statistics' annual baby-name registrations for England and Wales, which record every name given to three or more babies in a year. Figures before 1996 are estimates: the ONS published only top-100 rankings at ten-year intervals back to 1904, so counts for those years are modelled from the rankings, calibrated against Douglas Galbi's long-run research into English name frequencies, and shown with an uncertainty band. Estimates of living bearers combine these birth figures with national life tables and ONS mid-year population estimates.
One limit worth naming: these figures count names as registered at birth. Anyone who changes their name later in life - including trans people, and anyone who adopts a different name by deed poll or simply by use - is not reflected here. Birth registrations record where a name began, not the name a person lives with.
Common questions
When was the name Alex most popular?
Alex peaked in 1996, when 1,762 babies in England and Wales were given the name.
How many people are called Alex?
At least 53,000 people named Alex born in England and Wales are alive today.
How old is the typical Alex?
Most living Alexes are between 18 and 35; the most common age is about 30.
Is Alex becoming more or less popular?
Declining: recent figures are a fraction of the 1996 peak.