I'd like to know why Sid chose the name Alexander? Not why he changed from using his birth name in movies and TV, etc. I completely understand the need for that. But why "Alexander"? Why not Sam or Thomas or Fred? In other words, I'm interested in the history or story or emotional relationship for Sid to that particular name.

Does any one know?

Please excuse this boring question if you all know the answer. Living in Japan for 22 years was like living on another planet when it came to keeping up with western culture.

<< I'd like to know why Sid chose the name Alexander? >>

I've heard him say he was looking through a "Name Your Baby" book and got bored before he made it through the A's. I think we can assume he's just joking about that.

Before he took a stage name, Sid named his dog Alexander -- and has had to repeatedly deny the charge that he'd named himself after his dog!

My grandmother named her favorite doll "Mercedes" when she was a child. When she became a mother, she named her first daughter "Mercedes". My mother was not named after a doll, but she was named her mother's very favorite name.

In a similar way, Sid didn't name himself after his dog, but he chose the name Alexander twice. I think we must assume he likes the name.

Carol

One reason he chose "Alexander" is because it is European - his mother wanted to give him a British/European name when he was born, but the paternal naming conventions won out. Also, "Alexander" doesn't have any specific religious affiliation, so he felt it was a good neutral name.

Hope that helps.

Carol and Mel, thank you. In the interview for Syriana George Clooney called him Alexander. I'm so used to hearing him called Sid. Alexander seems like such a long name. I wonder how Sid feels about "Alex"?

And I often hear about his mother---she must have been a wonderful woman. But what about his father? Is he still alive? Is he in England or the Sudan?

Sid's father Tahir (not Fadil as you would have expected. Fadil was his grandfather) died of emphysema in Sudan around 1993. I thought about that when I saw the episode "The Quickening" and heard Dr. Bashir say to the young mother-to-be, "With luck you'll live to see your son have children of his own." Tahir did not live to see his grandson who was born in 1996.

However, Sid is on very good terms with his stepfather. You can see them together in some of the photos of the London premiere of "Kingdom of Heaven."

Carol

He does get called 'Alexander' and 'Alex' from time to time, but usually by people who don't know him well. 'Siddig' or 'Sid' are his preferences.

On a side note, my 20 month old nephew is named Alexander. My brother and sister-in-law prefer long names (my nieces are Genevieve, Elizabeth, and - with the shortest name of the bunch - Aurora) and usually don't allow nicknames, but in the case of my nephew we were informed that he could be called Xander. Alex is verboten. For a long time, we called him Super Dude; so much so that Aurora (she'll be 3 tomorrow) thought that was his name until just recently.

Yes, I read somewhere that Alexander is what his mother would have named him had he been born in England. Or something to that effect.

So did his mother remarry after his father died or did the first marriage sadly end in divorce?

His parents divorced when Sid was very young and he grew up in London where his mother lived and worked. After his mother re-married, Sid was able to spend time in the country and liked that a lot. When Sid was sixteen, his half-brother Thomas was born. Fan club members who attended the first Page's Bar event got to see Sid and his "little" brother together. (As you might guess from the quotation marks, Thomas is quite tall -- at least 6' 2" -- considerably broader than Sid.)

Carol