The Baby Name Wizard

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Comments and insights on the name Alyssa: | Edit

My sister's name is Alyssa. She is 18 (born in 1992), and growing up at our church we had to call her "Alyssa #1" because my best friend's little sister was named Alyssa and was only one month younger than her. Since then, at the same church, I met another friend's sibling (born in 1991) named Alyssa. I know at least my sister was named after Alyssa Milano, which might explain the popularity at that time...

my 1st daughter is named Alyssa Sue. She is almost 7, and so far have only come across 1 other Alyssa. I love this name it is so girly...the only problem is sometimes people missunderstand and think I'm saying melissa..yuk.

I also was the only Alyssa in grade school. I never had a nickname until I got older Aly and Lyss. I absolutely have always loved my name and people always tell me how beautiful it is and it suits me. Alyssa is such a feminine name, it's no wonder it came from a flower.

~ I love my name. It's unique and I've always gotten a lot of compliments on it. Since, born in 1980, I've always been an older Alyssa, I like the fact that my name will always be young while I 'own' it. It's quite a common name for younger girls but still unique for my age bracket. Spanish speakers always call me Ah-lee-sah, which is equally beautiful and doesn't bother me at all. When I introduce myself, I've learned to move the accent and always emphasize the "Ah" so no one mistakes me for a Melissa.

- I can't believe this name is so popular, because I only know of 1 Alyssa in the entire school.

Personal experiences with the name Alyssa: | Edit

I frequently get my name misspelled and pronounced incorrectly. I believe I was the only Alyssa in my graduating class in high school out of 2,000 students. When I got to college there were several more Alyssas than I was expecting. I view my name as sounding somewhat childish, but I still like it because there aren't that many people my age with the name.

My name is Alyssa and I'm 20. I love my name itself, but it is extremely annoying to get my name spelled "Alissa" or "allyssa" or pronounced "alisa" or "Alisha". More so because my name is extremely common, especially this spelling. I completely miss how it's possible to misspell and mispronounce it. There were 7 Alyssa's in my high school. I do think it's cool when I meet people with the same name as me. I think my name is pretty and Girly, but I wouldn't recommend it because its really frustrating to constantly correct. My friends call me lyss or by last name because one of my best friends is Alyssa (we became friends in preschool because we had the same name) and my family and boyfriend typically call me lyssie.

Nicknames for Alyssa: | Edit

Aly/Ally/Ali
Lissa
Lyssie/Lissy
Lys/Lyss
Alyss
Al

Meanings and history of the name Alyssa: | Edit

At 38 years old, I am the oldest Alyssa that I know of. I remember as a child how uncommon it was but I remember getting lots of compliments too. My parents were asked for permission by close neighbors to use my name when they adopted a baby girl sometime before I was 12 years old. I remember NEVER being able to find it in print.

My mom came up with the name while shopping for dresses for my older sister (who ironically is named Jennifer and at 44 years of age is the oldest Jennifer that I know of). Seems my mom is a trendsetter. Alyssa was the name of a brand of dresses and was clearly displayed on the tags.

I was unnamed for 3 days after being born because the rest of the family did not feel the same enthusiasm for the name. My mom finally won out (as well she should've, she did ALL the work!)

When people have difficulty saying my name, I tell them, Melissa without the, 'M'. Proper phonics does clearly show people how to say it though and its so much prettier with a, 'Y'. My nicknames are, 'Lys' and 'Lyssa' or 'Lyssee Lou.' In class, the teachers would always have my full attention if they said, "listen" because I would think they were saying my name.

See, Alyssa Milano was NOT the 1st.....and I probably wasn't either because I would assume those dresses were probably named after SOMEONE. Ha.

Famous real-life people named Alyssa: | Edit

Alyssa Milano, actress

Alyssa in song, story & screen: | Edit

Alyssa Lies by Jason Michael Carroll

In the book "Kiss Me Tomorrow", the given name of the main character Blister is Alyssa.
Alyssa Calloway, in the 1995 film, "It Takes Two"