Alexandria

Alexandria opens like a library doorway, all marble and lamplight. The feminine elaboration of Alexander, it carries the Greek meaning "defender of the people," and shares its name with the Egyptian port city that once housed the ancient world's greatest collection of books. That scholarly shadow lends the name gravity; its four syllables lend it music. It peaked in American popularity during the 1990s and now rests at 463, familiar but no longer everywhere. Nicknames come easily, Alex, Lexi, Andie, Ria, giving a child room to grow into or out of the name's full grandeur. Stately and supple at once.