Meaning and background
The story behind Xander
Xander is a documented short form of Alexander, rather than a separate name invented from the English letter X. It is used in Dutch as well as modern English. Its ultimate source follows Alexander back to the ancient Greek Alexandros, although the shortened form does not itself need to carry every historical association of the full name. In Britain it is usually pronounced ZAN-də; some Dutch speakers begin it differently. The Buffy the Vampire Slayer character made it familiar to many English-speaking viewers.
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About Xander
Recorded as a dog’s name
Xander appears in 12 dog licence records in the 2026 New York City dataset.
How to read this count
These records cover New York City and may count the same dog in more than one licence period. They are not a national popularity ranking.
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Sources and research notes (1)
- New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene NYC Dog Licensing Dataset — extract_year 2026 — Dog licence periods, not unique dogs; NYC only. No owner-level fields retrieved.
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