Alexander

In 336 BC a twenty-year-old inherited Macedon and within a decade had remade the known world — his name, Alexandros, meaning "defender of men," has never quite cooled since. Alexander arrives with marble in its pockets: Greek kings, Russian tsars, a Hamilton on a ten-dollar bill. Four syllables give parents the luxury of nicknames (Alex, Xander, Sasha, Lex), which may explain its durable perch at rank 27. For all its gravitas, the name wears surprisingly well on small children; the long form waits patiently, like a suit hanging in a closet, for the adult who'll eventually need it.