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SANDERS - Name Meaning & Origin

By Kimberly Powell, About.com

SANDERS Surname Meaning & Origin:
Sanders is a patronymic surname derived from the given name "Sander," a medieval form of "Alexander." Alexander comes from the Greek name "Alexandros," meaning "defender of men" from Greek alexein "to defend, help" and aner "man."

Sanders is the 87th most popular surname in the United States.

Surname Origin:
English
Alternate Surname Spellings:
SANDERSON, SANDERSEN, SANDER
Genealogy Resources for the Surname SANDERS:

100 Most Common U.S. Surnames & Their Meanings
Smith, Johnson, Williams, Jones, Brown... Are you one of the millions of Americans sporting one of these top 100 common last names from the 2000 census?

SANDERS Family Genealogy Forum
Search this popular genealogy forum for the Sanders surname to find others who might be researching your ancestors, or post your own Sanders query.

FamilySearch - SANDERS Genealogy
Find records, queries, and lineage-linked family trees posted for the Sanders surname and its variations.

SANDERS Surname & Family Mailing Lists
RootsWeb hosts several free mailing lists for researchers of the Sanders surname.

Cousin Connect - SANDERS Genealogy Queries
Read or post genealogy queries for the surname Sanders, and sign up for free notification when new Sanders queries are added.

DistantCousin.com - SANDERS Genealogy & Family History
Free databases and genealogy links for the last name Sanders.

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References: Surname Meanings & Origins

Cottle, Basil. Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967.

Menk, Lars. A Dictionary of German Jewish Surnames. Avotaynu, 2005.

Beider, Alexander. A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from Galicia. Avotaynu, 2004.

Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989.

Hanks, Patrick. Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003.

Smith, Elsdon C. American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.


>> Back to Glossary of Surname Meanings & Origins

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