Sandra

Sandra began as a short form of Alessandra, the Italian Alexandra, itself descended from the Greek "defender of men." It took off independently in the mid-twentieth century across Poland, Italy, and the English-speaking world, peaking in the American top ten in the 1950s on the strength of Sandra Dee and generations of Sandys. Two syllables, the opening s catching like a whisper, the dra rolling in with a small bit of swagger. The name has cooled considerably in the US, which paradoxically makes it feel fresh again, a clean mid-century classic waiting to come back around without irony.