Virginia Dare, (born Aug. 18, 1587, Roanoke Island, Virginia colony. [now in North Carolina, U.S.]), the first English child born in the Americas. She was given the name Virginia because she was the first Christian born in Virginia. Her father was Ananias Dare. Her mother, Ellinor (Eleanor, or Elyonor) White Dare, was the daughter of the Roanoke colony governor, John White. The Dares were among the approximately 120 settlers who left England on May 8, 1587, on an expedition sponsored by Sir Walter Raleigh. Raleigh had intended that the settlement should be established in the Chesapeake Bay area, but the