Given name & surname
Alisa
“noble”·“kind”·“type”
Alisa is a variant of Alice. Alice’s older Germanic elements mean “noble” and “kind” or “type.” The connection with nobility belongs to the name’s linguistic roots.
Meaning & origin
What it means
Alisa is a variant of Alice. Alice’s older Germanic elements mean “noble” and “kind” or “type.” The connection with nobility belongs to the name’s linguistic roots.
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Alisa is a variant of Alice. Alice developed through Old French from Adalheidis, the Germanic name also behind Adelaide.
Explained through its name family
How it developed
Alisa is a variant of Alice. The shared background comes through Alice: The longer Adalheidis was greatly shortened before reaching its Old French form. Alice and Adelaide therefore share an older source, even though they became distinct names.
Explained through its name family
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1945. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. Alisa is a variant of Alice. The history of Alice gives this family its wider story. Alice returned to wider use in the nineteenth century. Lewis Carroll’s two Alice stories gave it an enduring literary association; his heroine drew inspiration from Alice Liddell.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Alisa through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 34,727
- 22 boys · 34,705 girls
- Most popular year
- 1970
- 1,153 babies
- 2025
- 125
- #1,654 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −31%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 125 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 1,654 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 31.0% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for girls was 1,153 in 1970. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for girls with this name (25). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 33,213 as a first name in 2020; 157 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Alisa’s family of names
In Finnish usage, Alisa has a diminutive in Alli. Alisa has a related form in Alice. In Finnish usage, Alisa has a conventional equivalent in the English form Alice.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Alisa has relatives in 4 languages.
6 related names in 4 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 3
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 4
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 17
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Alisa
- Alisa FreindlichSoviet and Russian actressborn 1934
- Alisa GalliamovaRussian chess playerborn 1972
- Alisa KleybanovaRussian tennis playerborn 1989
- Alisa CamplinAustralian freestyle skierborn 1974
- Alisa MarićSerbian chess playerborn 1970
- Alisa OzhoginaSpanish synchro swimmerborn 2000
- Alisa KozhikinaRussian singerborn 2003
- Alisa GanievaRussian authorborn 1985
- Alisa WeilersteinAmerican cellistborn 1982
Characters named Alisa: Alisa Seleznyova (fictional character created by Kir Bulychev).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
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If you love Alisa, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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