Medieval variant of Alexander, from Greek 'Alexandros' meaning 'defender of the people.'
Saunders began life as a medieval English and Scottish surname derived from the given name Alexander — itself from the Greek Alexandros, a compound of alexein (to defend) and anēr (man), meaning "defender of men." The phonetic journey from Alexander to Saunders is a fascinating study in how names travel through oral culture: Alexander became the familiar Scottish form Alissander, then Saunder, then Saunders with the possessive S added to denote "son of Saunder."
This surname was common enough in Scotland and northern England that it eventually circled back into use as a given name, following the long Anglo-American tradition of honoring family surnames by promoting them to first-name position. As a given name, Saunders carries the quiet prestige of its ultimate ancestor Alexander — one of history's great name-exporters, carried by the Macedonian conqueror across the known world and subsequently borne by popes, emperors, tsars, and explorers — while wearing its own distinctly English and Scottish identity. Notable bearers of Saunders as a given name include Saunders Lewis, the Welsh poet, playwright, and political nationalist whose 1936 act of arson against an RAF bombing school became one of the defining moments of twentieth-century Welsh cultural politics, and whose literary output cemented him as one of Wales's most consequential modern writers.
Contemporary parents drawn to Saunders tend to be those who prize occupational and surname-style names with genuine historical roots over invented or purely fashionable options. It pairs well with simple middle names, ages gracefully from childhood through professional life, and carries within it — should the bearer or their family ever wish to follow the thread — the entire magnificent lineage of Alexander stretching back to antiquity.