Allegra
A feminine name of Italian origin meaning "joyful, lively".
Name Census estimates that about 3,997 living Americans carry the first name Allegra. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Allegra today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Allegra births was 1988 (154 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Allegra. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Allegra with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
4.0K
~ 1 in 85,753 Americans
Peak year
1988
154 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,748
Tracked since 1902
Census
Allegra in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,798 people with the first name Allegra, which placed it at #4,773 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#4,773
National first-name rank
People counted
3.8K
3,798 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
61.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Allegra
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Allegra is White at 61.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (15.2%) and Black (14.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Allegra described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Allegra at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.2% · 2,325
- Hispanic or Latino15.2% · 579
- Black or African American14.5% · 549
- Two or more races7.1% · 270
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 70
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 5
Popularity
Allegra: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Allegra from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 1,196 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Allegra by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Allegra during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Allegras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 25 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Allegra, while Wisconsin, Oregon, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 78 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Allegra
The name Allegra is of Italian origin, derived from the Latin word "alacer," meaning "lively" or "cheerful." It first emerged in Italy during the Renaissance period, a time of great cultural and artistic revival.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Allegra dates back to the 16th century. It appeared in the writings of the Italian poet and philosopher Giordano Bruno, who wrote about a character named Allegra in his philosophical dialogues.
In the late 16th century, Allegra was also the name of a courtesan who was famously associated with the Venetian painter Titian. She served as the model for several of his paintings, including the celebrated work "Allegra Venue," which depicted her as a sensual and alluring figure.
During the 17th century, the name Allegra gained popularity among the Italian nobility. One notable figure was Allegra Van Westerhout, a Dutch-Italian aristocrat born in 1683. She was known for her patronage of the arts and her involvement in the cultural life of Venice.
In the literary realm, the name Allegra appeared in the works of Lord Byron, the famous English Romantic poet. In 1817, Byron had an affair with Claire Clairmont, and their daughter was named Allegra. Unfortunately, the child died at the age of five in 1822.
Another prominent figure with the name Allegra was Allegra Kent, an American ballerina born in 1937. She was a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet and renowned for her performances in various classical and contemporary works.
Allegra Stratton, born in 1980, is a British political advisor and former broadcaster. She served as the spokeswoman for the Prime Minister's Office during the COVID-19 pandemic and later resigned amidst controversy.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Allegra, a moniker that evokes a sense of liveliness, joy, and vivacity, reflecting its Latin roots.
People
Allegra + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Allegra as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Allegra: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Allegra?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,997 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Allegra going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 85,753 US residents.
Is Allegra a common name?
We classify Allegra as "Rare". It ranks above 96% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,696 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Allegra most popular?
The single biggest year for Allegra was 1988, when 154 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Allegra is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Allegra in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,798 people with the name Allegra, or 1.26 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,773 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Allegra in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Allegra?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Allegra appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,810 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Allegra?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Allegra is White at 61.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (15.2%) and Black (14.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Allegra most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Allegra in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.2% (2,325 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Allegra in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Allegra a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Allegra in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Allegra still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Allegra in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Allegra can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Allegra?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.