This name is not to be confused with Ποιμάνδρης (Poimandres), which is a name used as the title for the first chapter of the medieval literary work Corpus Hermeticum. That name is most likely a hellenization of the Egyptian theophoric name P-eime n-Re meaning "intelligence of Re" or "knowledge of Re", since it cannot be a genuine Greek given name because it doesn't follow the grammatical rules that all genuine Greek names do.
In Greek mythology, Poemander was the founder of the city of Tanagra.
This name was borne by several ancient Greeks as well as by several characters in Greek mythology, such as one of the suitors of Odysseus' wife Penelope.
A known bearer of this name was the epic poet Peisander of Camirus, who lived in the 7th century BC.
One source appears to theorize that the river's name is a hellenized form of what might originally have been a Carian, Phrygian or Lydian name. All three are extinct Indo-European languages, with Carian and Lydian belonging to the subgroup of Anatolian languages. This source mentioned that in these three languages, place names often had the suffix -anda, thus implying that this same suffix must have been part of the river's original name. An other source theorizes that the river's original name was actually Semitic in origin. It said that it is most likely derived from (biblical) Hebrew me 'yim meaning "bowels, intestines" (although that word can sometimes also mean "womb, source of procreation"), thus basically giving the name the meaning of "intestine river".
Seeing as both of the sources mentioned agree that the river's original name was not hellenic in origin and that Maiandros is simply the hellenized form of the original name, the possibility of the name actually being a genuine Greek name seems quite unlikely. This is strengthened by the fact that the river is located in an area that was never (natively) inhabited by peoples that spoke a hellenic language (such as Greek). But, if it actually were a genuine Greek name, then the first element would either have been derived from the name of the Greek goddess Maia 1, or from Greek μαῖα (maia) meaning "good mother" as well as "midwife". The latter is ultimately derived from the Greek verb μαίομαι (maiomai) meaning "to seek (after/for)" as well as "to deliver". The second element of the name would have been derived from Greek ανδρος (andros) meaning "of a man".
Finally, in Greek mythology, Meander was the patron deity of the aforementioned Maiandros river, after which he was named.
A known bearer of this name was Hegesander of Delphi, a Greek writer and historian who is thought to have lived in the 2nd century BC.
Because of this, it is uncertain whether king Eteander was fully of Greek descent, or whether he was of Assyrian or Phoenician descent. As such, it is possible that his name is not an authentic Greek name, but actually the hellenized form of a Semitic name (as Assyrians and Phoenicians both spoke a Semitic language). He is called Ituandar (also found spelled as Ithuander and Ituander) in Assyrian sources, so if he was indeed of Assyrian descent, then that is what his original name was. It is unknown what his original name would have been if he was of Phoenician descent, although it probably can't have been all that much different from the Assyrian form. Either way, in both cases, the meaning of his name is unknown.
Finally, if king Eteander was fully of Greek descent after all, then his name is most likely derived from Greek ἐτεός (eteos) "true, genuine, real" combined with Greek ανδρος (andros) "of a man". As such, the meaning of the name would basically be "a true man".
The name has been used by kings of Scotland, Poland and Yugoslavia, emperors of Russia, and eight popes. Other notable bearers include English poet Alexander Pope (1688-1744), American statesman Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804), Scottish-Canadian explorer Alexander MacKenzie (1764-1820), Russian poet Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837), and Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922), the Scottish-Canadian-American inventor of the telephone.