Sander
Sander was given to 41 boys in 2025, #3,029 among boys’ names; 1,667 Americans have been recorded with it since 1912 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 1,300 Americans named Sander and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (78% of everyone recorded); the median is 22 years old and half are between 10 and 52.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Sander by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Sander mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Sander is “a diminutive of the male given name Alexander, from Ancient Greek.”
/ˈsændɚ/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Sander?
#3,029 among boys’ names, 2025
Sander rose from #4,522 in 2015 to #3,029 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 11.5 to 24.0 per million.
46 babies in 2020, the peak
Sander peaked in 2020, when 46 boys were given it, #2,721 among boys’ names. The 41 births of 2025 are 89% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 41 | #3,029 | 24.0 |
| 2024 | 26 | #4,170 | 15.1 |
| 2023 | 44 | #2,884 | 25.7 |
| 2022 | 41 | #3,044 | 23.5 |
| 2021 | 32 | #3,562 | 18.3 |
| 2020 | 46 | #2,721 | 26.7 |
| 2019 | 28 | #3,879 | 15.6 |
| 2018 | 35 | #3,290 | 19.3 |
| 2017 | 27 | #3,962 | 14.6 |
| 2016 | 30 | #3,664 | 15.8 |
Every recorded year (107)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 22 | #4,522 | 11.5 |
| 2014 | 26 | #3,986 | 13.5 |
| 2013 | 19 | #4,941 | 10.0 |
| 2012 | 22 | #4,505 | 11.6 |
| 2011 | 32 | #3,417 | 16.8 |
| 2010 | 26 | #3,970 | 13.6 |
| 2009 | 24 | #4,255 | 12.1 |
| 2008 | 33 | #3,408 | 16.2 |
| 2007 | 39 | #3,014 | 18.8 |
| 2006 | 25 | #3,976 | 12.2 |
| 2005 | 30 | #3,371 | 15.0 |
| 2004 | 24 | #3,832 | 12.1 |
| 2003 | 29 | #3,254 | 14.7 |
| 2002 | 29 | #3,168 | 14.9 |
| 2001 | 24 | #3,593 | 12.4 |
| 2000 | 16 | #4,746 | 8.1 |
| 1999 | 14 | #4,978 | 7.3 |
| 1998 | 20 | #3,679 | 10.5 |
| 1997 | 12 | #5,216 | 6.4 |
| 1996 | 13 | #4,828 | 6.9 |
| 1995 | 11 | #5,434 | 5.8 |
| 1994 | 13 | #4,739 | 6.7 |
| 1993 | 10 | #5,698 | 5.1 |
| 1992 | 11 | #5,173 | 5.5 |
| 1991 | 8 | #6,407 | 4.0 |
| 1990 | 6 | #7,930 | 2.9 |
| 1989 | 7 | #6,804 | 3.5 |
| 1988 | 14 | #3,669 | 7.3 |
| 1987 | 10 | #4,515 | 5.4 |
| 1985 | 6 | #6,383 | 3.2 |
| 1984 | 16 | #2,930 | 8.9 |
| 1983 | 11 | #3,830 | 6.1 |
| 1982 | 10 | #4,188 | 5.5 |
| 1980 | 5 | #7,098 | 2.8 |
| 1979 | 5 | #6,896 | 2.9 |
| 1978 | 8 | #4,487 | 4.9 |
| 1977 | 6 | #5,719 | 3.7 |
| 1976 | 5 | #6,323 | 3.2 |
| 1975 | 5 | #6,174 | 3.2 |
| 1974 | 6 | #5,125 | 3.8 |
| 1972 | 8 | #3,905 | 4.9 |
| 1971 | 8 | #3,900 | 4.5 |
| 1970 | 16 | #2,385 | 8.6 |
| 1969 | 13 | #2,524 | 7.3 |
| 1968 | 18 | #1,952 | 10.4 |
| 1967 | 9 | #2,952 | 5.2 |
| 1966 | 12 | #2,443 | 6.7 |
| 1965 | 13 | #2,351 | 7.0 |
| 1964 | 15 | #2,186 | 7.5 |
| 1963 | 19 | #1,886 | 9.4 |
| 1962 | 10 | #2,820 | 4.8 |
| 1961 | 15 | #2,220 | 7.1 |
| 1959 | 9 | #3,004 | 4.2 |
| 1958 | 9 | #2,998 | 4.2 |
| 1957 | 8 | #3,212 | 3.7 |
| 1956 | 10 | #2,769 | 4.7 |
| 1955 | 6 | #3,823 | 2.9 |
| 1954 | 13 | #2,301 | 6.4 |
| 1953 | 16 | #2,026 | 8.1 |
| 1952 | 12 | #2,354 | 6.2 |
| 1951 | 6 | #3,657 | 3.2 |
| 1950 | 10 | #2,555 | 5.6 |
| 1949 | 15 | #2,011 | 8.5 |
| 1948 | 14 | #2,101 | 8.0 |
| 1947 | 10 | #2,647 | 5.5 |
| 1946 | 6 | #3,472 | 3.7 |
| 1945 | 13 | #1,997 | 9.7 |
| 1944 | 6 | #3,382 | 4.4 |
| 1943 | 13 | #2,168 | 9.1 |
| 1942 | 9 | #2,686 | 6.5 |
| 1941 | 11 | #2,316 | 9.0 |
| 1940 | 9 | #2,648 | 7.8 |
| 1939 | 8 | #2,791 | 7.2 |
| 1938 | 11 | #2,304 | 9.9 |
| 1937 | 17 | #1,742 | 15.9 |
| 1935 | 13 | #2,111 | 12.5 |
| 1934 | 11 | #2,375 | 10.7 |
| 1933 | 8 | #2,959 | 8.1 |
| 1932 | 7 | #3,319 | 6.7 |
| 1931 | 8 | #3,057 | 7.7 |
| 1930 | 10 | #2,758 | 9.1 |
| 1929 | 13 | #2,301 | 12.1 |
| 1928 | 7 | #3,649 | 6.3 |
| 1927 | 14 | #2,287 | 12.4 |
| 1926 | 9 | #3,096 | 8.1 |
| 1925 | 9 | #3,111 | 8.1 |
| 1924 | 6 | #4,266 | 5.3 |
| 1923 | 7 | #3,763 | 6.4 |
| 1922 | 6 | #4,238 | 5.5 |
| 1921 | 9 | #3,176 | 8.2 |
| 1920 | 7 | #3,765 | 6.6 |
| 1919 | 7 | #3,687 | 7.1 |
| 1918 | 11 | #2,675 | 10.9 |
| 1917 | 7 | #3,494 | 7.6 |
| 1916 | 5 | #4,417 | 5.6 |
| 1915 | 10 | #2,588 | 11.8 |
| 1912 | 5 | #2,849 | 11.6 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Sander a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 1,667 Americans recorded as Sander, 5% are girls and 95% boys. In 2025 it went to 41 boys; SSA lists no girls with it that year (fewer than 5, or none).
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Sander: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Sander, and how old are they?
1,300 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 78% of the 1,667 Americans ever recorded as Sander. The median Sander alive today is 22 years old; half are between 10 and 52.
The 2020 Census counted 1,789 people named Sander (190 women and girls, 1,599 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 1,145 born in the U.S. The Census count is 1.6 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 35 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 168 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 154 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 139 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 393 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 414 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Names spelled alike
Of these 3 names spelled alike, given to 2,679 babies since 1880, Sander is the most given (62% of them). In 2025 it was given to 41 of their 52 babies (79%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Sander
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Sander and names like it
- Compare Sander and SandorBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2020sSander peaked in 2020.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Sander since 1910.
- Ancient Greek namesWiktionary’s origin for Sander: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2020The year the most babies were named Sander.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Sander alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with SMost given first.