How do you feel about your name, Sandra?

I was lucky enough this week to find two interview subjects — both named Sandra.

The first Sandra is from Canada. How does she sum up her feelings about her name? One word: “Meh.” She says the name Sandra is “boring,” though concedes that “it’s easy to pronounce.”

The second Sandra, who was born in England and now goes by ‘Sandi,’ basically agrees: “It’s a pretty bog-standard name.”

I was always called “Sandra” (pronounced “Saundra”–the English way) as I child, until we moved to Canada. When my mother found Canadians pronounced it with a short “a”, she couldn’t stand it, so started to call me Sandy. I changed the “y” to an “i” in grade 10, trying to be more original. Wished my birth name was “Alexandra” so I could spell my name with an “X”–Xandi.

Sandra is indeed a short form of Alexandra, a feminine version of the Greek name Alexander. (It can also be short for Alessandra, also based on Alexander.)

Both of the Sandras I spoke to were born in the late 1950s. I couldn’t find reliable name statistics for either Canada or England from that time period, but in the U.S. the name Sandra was among the 20 most popular baby names from the late 1930s until the mid-1960s.

Thank you, Sandra & Sandra!

12 thoughts on “How do you feel about your name, Sandra?

  1. My name is Sandra I’m 16. i think my name is okay.. i dont think it fits me but everyone says it does ! I like when people pronounce it like Sandra instead of Sondra like theres supposed to be an “o” there or something. I like Sandra better than Sandy or Alexandra though.

    =)
    .. Sandra !

  2. A pretty bog-standard name?!! My name is Sandra and I love it! I was born in Ireland in the 70’s and I think I kind of grew into my name as I got older. I’m highly offended by this article… :D Just kidding. I’m really happy with my name – whenever I visit other european countries they never have trouble pronouncing it – the french tell me i have a french name, italians say it’s italian… and I can honestly say that I have never been in a group, socially or professionally, where I’ve been “one of the sandras” which I think I would find kind of annoying.

  3. My Mother’s name is Sandra and I think it is a beautiful name. I am trying, for whenever I have kids in the future, to think of a middle name that goes with Felicity ****** I want the middle name to derive from Sandra, but am unsure of what I like right now. But I have PLENTY of time for that. I just wanted to comment on how Sandra is a beautiful name. And, I believe, it is a name that fits well with whomever. It is versatile in that sense!

  4. I love the name Sandra! It completely fits me because it means “defender of mankind” in Greek. I am in the Army National Guard and am going for a career in law enforcement in the US.

  5. I hate my name. I was a child of the late 70’s and my father picked it out. They call me Sandy but i hate that even more. I dont fit my name. I should have been a sarah.

  6. I DETEST my name. I do pronounce it “Saundra” and virtually no one gets it right, though I don’t fault them for that — it’s not spelled that way. Actually, African-Americans generally pronounce it the way I do. It especially irks me when someone will take the liberty to shorten it to “Sandy” without asking. It seems dated to me.

  7. It’s interesting to read all comments…
    I was born in the Czech republic (Czechoslovakia) in 1979. At the moment I’m living in England. After little chat with my sister (Monika). I felt upset… She told me, when she spoken with English people about names (she is expecting second baby and looking for name) they told her, her name is much nicer than mine. Her friends think name Sandra is realy old fashion. And the most Sandras are older age…
    In my country this name started to be popular in late seventies beginning eighties. In my country we celebrate Nameday, it’s like Birthday. Each day in calendar has got different name. My Nameday is on 23.08. I missed one or two Namedays, because when I was born my name wasn’t in Czech calendar.
    I don’t know any Sandras of my age in my country. The most of them I know are much younger – in their twenties or very little ones.
    When I was a child I hated my name, because childern at school thought I have got very unusuall strange name. Only one Sandra everywhere… I have been still only one. It was good and bad as well. Everybody new me and sometimes you don’t want to. Some childern called me “sadra” which means in my language “plaster”. At university I made bonus from my name and I was very happy again…
    Now I’m still happy with my name. English people know this name and are surprised I have got “English name”…
    My mum and my friends call me Sandy, Sandri, Sany (Sunny)…

  8. I am named Sandra, and I’ve never been particularly keen on the name as I consider it to be ‘plain’. I think Alexandra is far better. I was born in 1963 and my brother chose Sandra for me. I feel my parents should have chosen my name. I’ve always preferred my second name Elizabeth. Still, there are worse names I could have been given, so perhaps Sandra isn’t quite so bad, after all!

  9. My name is sandra. My husband and his sister call me saundra,she asked why my mom gave me a spanish name. I really hate my name . I would change the spelling all the time since i liked to be called sandy,but it was with an i,ie,ye,ee,ii,iy but now im trying to find a new way to spell it

  10. I like my name, -but don’t whine when you pronounce the a.-PLease! (Pronounce the a like the a in cat, not the the a in candy!) I like that it’s a dated name.-I love the 30’s -60’s. Check out the song Golly Sandra on youtube by Eisley. One of the few songs with this name in it.

  11. I used to find my name boring but now that I am older, I like that it is not that common. I used to hate always having “Sandra Dee” sung to me but that hasn’t happened in years. I think when you see it in writing, it is,actually quite pretty and classy looking. I have to agree with the above Sandra though that it is irritating when people who barely know you start calling you Sandy. That is not my name,and it seems like such an assumption of familiarity. I have about 2 friends left over from high school days that are allowed to call me Sandi (note attempt at unique name spelling even back in the 80s)

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