Name Awesome

Sander

#3,029 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

To defend + man, through Alexander

Sander has been given to 1,667 babies in the U.S. since 1912. In 2025 it ranked #3,029 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2020, with 46 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 95% boys, 5% girls all-time.

Babies named Sander, 2025

1 in 80,900

Sander over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
020406018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Sander over time

In 2025, Sander went to 0% girls and 100% boys.

19122025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Sander: meaning, origin, and history

To defend + man, through Alexander

Ancient Greek and Latin

What Sander means

Sander belongs to the name family reached through Sander → Alexander. Its meaning is “to defend + man”.

Origin, language, and formation

Sander is used in English, Dutch, Estonian and Norwegian Bokmål. Its origins include Ancient Greek and Latin.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Alexander and Aleksander.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Sander is pronounced /ˈsændɚ/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,588 boys were recorded with the name Sander between 1912 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 46 in 2020; its best national rank was #1,742 in 1937.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #2,721 in 2020 to #3,029 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #4,522 in 2015 to #3,029 in 2025.

In the United States, 79 girls were recorded with the name Sander between 1950 and 1971. Its highest annual count was 10 in 1959; its best national rank was #4,248 in 1959.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Sander?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 80,900
41 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 41,700
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#3,029
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
56,047 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Sander sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 56,047 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Sander. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Sanders were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Sander was born before 1998 — so the typical Sander is around 27 today.

Median birth year
1998
About 27 years old
Biggest decade
2000s
17.2% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
47.5%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
1,257
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2000s — 17.2% of all recorded uses (273).

Is Sander rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+1,141
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
−308
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
+1,493
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.86×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
89.1%
Peak was 2020 (46)
Years since peak
5
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
28.4% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,742
1937

Spellings of Sander

Sander is not the most common spelling — Tanner is, with 29.2% against Sander's 0.47%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Sander is used

Across 1910–2025, Sander was most concentrated in Florida — about 1 in 100,000 boys, against 1 in 305,346 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

01 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Florida1 in 100,000
  2. 2California1 in —
  3. 3New York1 in —
  4. 4Texas1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Sander has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Sander around the world

Where Sander ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2000–2025
    #5,137
    in 2025
  • France
    1976–2022
    #5,874
    in 2022
  • Norway
    1880–2025
    #37
    in 2025
  • Canada
    2011–2023
    #3,103
    in 2023
  • South Australia
    1965–2010
    #754
    in 2010

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Norway, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. SSB, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Sander by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#3,029
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 308
Best rank ever
#1,742
1937
Peak year
2020
46 that year
First recorded
1912
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
1,588
Count in 2025
41

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#4,248
1959
Peak year
1959
10 that year
First recorded
1950
Last recorded
1971
All-time count
79
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Sander

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

SandroSanjaySandersSantiSanadSanchezVanderRhyderCalderLanderHaiderSantielWylderSandraSandorSantoSantonioNaderAlderEnderRiderRaiderSantanaElder

Sibling names for Sander

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Sander

Top names of 2020, Sander's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 1937Boys' names starting with SAlexander Variations & NicknamesDutch Boy Names