My first impression was that it seemed very foreign (not native English). I think she will get lots of questions about her name (not that that is a deal breaker). It sort of reminds me in meaning and sound of [name]Allegra[/name], which might be a cute alternative.
I think that [name]Ilaria[/name] is very pretty, and I didn’t think of malaria, but now that you mention it… What about [name]Lyra[/name]?
Good luck! 
I think [name]Allegra[/name] would go well with [name]Gianna[/name].
I also like the suggestion of [name]Lyra[/name].
Or maybe Alyra?
What about [name]Amara[/name] or [name]Aurora[/name]?
I’m not so fond of [name]Allegra[/name] … and I trust that my husband would immediately associate it with the allergy medication.
[name]Amara[/name] was another name that made my top 20 list … my husband is also big on name meanings and [name]Amara[/name] has got lovely meanings in many languages.
Alyra is cute too. It would give me the nn [name]Aly[/name] and I like the sound of it. I’m just concerned that it sounds too made up. [name]Lyra[/name] being the root of the name is okay as well. I just hesitate when it comes to names that seem like someone just popped a letter in the front to make a new name (even though it looks like Alyra is a real name). Eg. I have a niece named [name]Nyah[/name] and I’m now hearing names like Anyah, LaNyah, etc (which are all lovely names but sort of seem made up to me).
[name]Aurora[/name] is also pretty and I love the meaning but again, my husband will say, “oh, like the [name]Aurora[/name] Borealis?”
Okay, back to this whole [name]Alaina[/name] thing, do you all think that if I change the spelling to [name]Elaina[/name] or [name]Elena[/name] it makes the name appear more exotic beside [name]Gianna[/name]? I know it’s pronounced relatively the same way but do you think it’s the spelling of the name ‘[name]Alaina[/name]’ with the ‘A’ that makes it seem less exotic? Or is it the pronunciation all together no matter how [name]Alaina[/name]/[name]Elaina[/name]/[name]Elena[/name] is spelled that just doesn’t work with [name]Gianna[/name]? [name]Hope[/name] this all makes sense!
Thanks again for all of your help and for putting up with my indecisiveness!
malaria