Alek is a short form of Aleksander, the Polish and South Slavic form of Alexander, and means "defender of men", from the Greek alexein, to defend, and aner, man. Americans may also know it from the model Alek Wek, though for boys it mostly serves as a crisp alternative to Alec and Alex. Alek was in the top 1000 in 2000 at number 973, its best year, and has slowly declined since, standing at number 2604 in 2025 with 50 boys.