Everyday LifeGreek → English
Sandra
/ˈsændrə/proper noun
A female given name, shortened from Alessandra.
The Greek roots
ἀλέξειν
aléxein
to ward off, defend
ἀνήρ
anḗr
man
Literally: “defender of men”
The story of the word
Sandra is the Italian clipping of Alessandra, and behind that stands Ἀλέξανδρος, one who wards men off, a defender. George Meredith retitled a novel Sandra Belloni in 1886 and gave the name its first real foothold in English; it went on to be a top-ten choice in Britain and America in the 1950s and 1960s. The name Alexandra is far older than Homer, appearing on Linear B tablets some four centuries before the Iliad was written down.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → Italian → English
Same family
AlexanderAlexandraSandyalexipharmic
In a sentence
Sandra took the minutes and quietly rewrote half of what was said.