Allegra

Gender: Feminine
Origin: Italian
Meaning: “cheerful; happy.”
Eng (uh-LAY-grah); (uh-LEG-rah); It (ahl-LAY-grah)

Allegra first appeared in Medieval Italy and was used as an auspicious name. It was especially common among Italian-Jewish families and more common in Central and Northern Italy.

It was introduced into the English-speaking world through Clara Allegra Byron (1817-1822), the short lived daughter of Lord Byron and Claire Clairmont. It was also borne by Anne Allegra Longfellow (1855-1934), the daughter of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who is mentioned in the 1860 poem The Children’s Hour.

It is currently borne by Allegra Versace (b.1986), heiress to the Versace fashion house.

Allegra is also the Romansch word for hello and is used by Romansch-speakers as a given name.

Another Italian form is Allegrina. A Spanish and Ladino cognate is Alegría.

Allegra is the 413th most popular female name in Germany, (2011).