Alessandra

Alessandra is the Italian feminine form of Alexander, from the Greek elements alexein, meaning to defend, and aner, meaning man, giving the sense defender of men. The masculine form spread across the Mediterranean through the fame of Alexander the Great, and feminine versions followed in Christian Europe. In Renaissance Florence, Alessandra Macinghi Strozzi wrote a long series of letters to her exiled sons, and they remain a valuable source on family life and commerce in the city. The name shortens naturally to Sandra, which became a name in its own right, and it corresponds to Alexandra in English and Alejandra in Spanish.