Alex
A short surname usually taken from the familiar personal name Alexander, or as a clipped nickname from it.
The #6,242 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 56,382 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is generally understood as a shortened form of the personal name Alexander, ultimately from Greek elements meaning “defend” and “man.” In some cases it may also reflect a diminutive or pet form such as Alick or Allic, used as a familiar everyday name. The historical sources supplied mainly treat it as a nickname or abbreviation of Alexander rather than an independent word.
History
The name Alexander was extremely common in medieval Europe, which made short forms and clipped surnames easy to form. In English and Scots records, Alex can appear as a surname or as a written shorthand for Alexander, so some instances may not be fixed hereditary surnames at all. Because the form is brief and ambiguous, it is often hard to separate true surnames from record-keeping abbreviations in older documents.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same root that produced Alex also generated a whole family of surnames, including Sanders, Sanderson, and Sandie.
From the historical record
“ALL ALEX. A nickname of Alexander ; or perhaps Allic or Alick, a Domesd. name. ALEXANDER The personal name. In the H.R. it is variously written, as Alexandre, fil' Alex, Alexandri. &c. A com- mon name itself, it has Ijecorac, hy the ab- breviating process, the parent of otliers still more so. From its last two…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom