Alessandra
Feminine · “defender of man”
Alessandra is the Italian road out of Greek Alexandros — the same name Alexandra carries, with the hard x softened into a double s that Italian prefers. Four syllables that move in a steady wave: ah-leh-SAHN-drah. It has been in American records since the middle of the last century, and its fuller flowering here is quite recent.
How old is the name Alessandra?
Alessandra first appears in US birth records in 1943 — 82 years ago. The typical Alessandra is a kid of about 12 — this name's wave is very recent. About 24,500 people named Alessandra are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Alessandra most popular?
Alessandra peaked in 2015, reaching #276 nationally. Today it ranks #443, 167 places below that high. See the whole 2015 chart.
Alessandra appears on these lists:
- Four-syllable names that carry
- Names with only one spelling
- Italian names Americans adore
- Renaissance names from the Italian courts
- all guides
Works in Italian families too:
Where it comes from
From Alexandros to Alessandra
The story of Alessandra
The root is Greek: Alexandros, a compound of 'defend' and 'man', already old by the time Alexander of Macedon carried it across Asia in the fourth century BC. The feminine Alexandra traveled with it, and as the name settled into the languages of Europe each one reshaped it — Latin kept the x, Italian turned it into the doubled s it favors, producing Alessandro and Alessandra. In that form it became one of the standard names of the Italian peninsula, common through the medieval and Renaissance centuries and steady ever since. Italian-American families brought it to the United States, where it has been recorded for generations and where its use has broadened well past those families in recent decades.
Meaning
defender of man, defending warrior
From Greek alexein, 'to defend', and anēr/andrós, 'man'. Alessandra is the Italian feminine of the same compound that gives Alexander.
How the name formed
- Alexandros
- Alexandra
- Alessandra
Related forms: Alexandra · Alejandra · Aleksandra · Aleksandra · Alexandra · Alexandra
Pronouncing Alessandra
al-uh-SAHN-druh
Stress on the third syllable. Italian speakers say ah-leh-SAHN-drah, with a clearer first vowel and a rolled r; both are heard in the US and neither needs correcting.
Nicknames for Alessandra
High
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1943
- Most girls named
- 20141,082 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #276reached in 2015
- Change vs 2023
- −11.5%697 in 2025, from 788
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Alessandra in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Alexandra in English — same name
- Alejandra in Spanish — same name
- Aleksandra in Russian — same name
- Aleksandra in Polish — same name
- Alexandra in Portuguese — same name
- Alexandra in Greek — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Alessandras among us
people named Alessandra are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 2,306 born in 2025 was named Alessandra
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Carmella test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Alessandra's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Carmella climbed just as high around 1922, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Carmella's path sketches the road Alessandra is walking now.
Alessandra sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Alessandra is headed
Alessandra should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Alessandra beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Alessandra in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Recognizable everywhere: the same name exists in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Greek, Russian and Polish, so it travels without being translated.
- A very long unbroken record — the Greek compound behind it has been in continuous use for well over two thousand years.
- Many established short forms already in circulation, from Ale and Alessa to Sandra and Alex, so a child has real choice.
- Familiar in sound without being crowded: most Alessandras go through school without meeting another.
- The spelling will need repeating. English speakers default to Alexandra, and the double s is easy to lose — expect a lifetime of 'with two s's, no x'.
- Four syllables is a lot of name for a form to hold or a stranger to say quickly, so in practice a short form usually does the daily work.
- Its American use is concentrated in recent decades, so it reads as a young name here — worth knowing if you were hoping for something that spans generations in the US.
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What they receive
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Alessandra
Feminine · #443 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Alessandras are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 24,500 people named Alessandra are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Alessandra in 2025?
- Alessandra ranks #443 among US girl names in 2025, with 697 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Alessandra?
- About 1 in every 2,306 US girls born in 2025 was named Alessandra — 697 in all.
- Will my child share the name Alessandra with classmates?
- Alessandra will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Alessandra
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Mya#443 · Gracelynn#442 · Lorelei#441 · Emmy#445 · Lilliana#445 · Payton#440 · Mariah#447 · Adelynn#447
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Alessandra? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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