The Baby Name Wizard

Reader Contributions

Contribute to, or edit, this collection of community wisdom on the name Lisa!

Comments and insights on the name Lisa: | Edit

What a top name!
This is the name of the subject of one of the world's most famous paintings, the 'Mona Lisa', the portrait of Lisa del Giocondo by Leonardo da Vinci.
Lisa was one of the top names of the 1960s and 1970s. Most people with this name are now in their 30s and 40s. Very few babies get this name now.

Personal experiences with the name Lisa: | Edit

I always had multiple Lisas in every class, so I got used to being Lisa S. Then we got another Lisa S. and we both had to go to the first two letters of our last names. I was Lisa Su which was OK because it sounded like Lisa Sue. She had to be Lisa Sr (or Lisa SIR) for the next six years. She's probably still in therapy.

My name is Lisa and I always really liked my name growing up. I should add that I am a Lisa born in the early 1990s, not the 60's/70's when it was a ridiculously popular name. In fact, I never went to school with another Lisa until high school. While I had multiple friends named Sarah, Rachel and Jennifer, I was the only Lisa. Lisa is a classic, pretty name and is not too common but "out there". It's cute on a little girl and classy on an adult. Now as an adult I still love being named Lisa. Other than the fact that many of my friends had moms named Lisa, I never got teased because of my name and really grew to love it. I think it would be a great name on any little girl, even though it's heyday was in the 60's/70's.

Nicknames for Lisa: | Edit

Lis, Li/Lee, Liz, Liza, Li Li, Leese, Lise, Lisa Pizza, Lisa Polisa, Lisa Lisa & The Cult Jam, Lisle, Liska

Meanings and history of the name Lisa: | Edit

God is bountiful
God Is My Oath

This is also the pronunciation of the word "fox" in Russian. Perhaps some of the Lisas who are lamenting how common the name is in their cohort can take some secret pleasure in claiming the handsome, clever fox as a totem animal - or just considering themselves foxy!

Famous real-life people named Lisa: | Edit

Lisa Marie Presley, singer
Lisa Kudrow, actress
Lisa Loeb, singer-songwriter
Lisa Edelstein, actress
Lisa Rinna, actress
Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, singer
Lisa Bonet, actress
Lisa Stansfield, singer/actress
Lisa Kelly, singer, toured with riverdance, Mezzo soprano in Celtic Woman
Lisa Whelchel, actress (The Facts of Life)

Lisa in song, story & screen: | Edit

Lisa Simpson
"Mona Lisa," Nat King Cole song
"Sad Lisa," Cat Stevens song (although he pronounces it "Leeza")
Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam (80s band)
"Losing Lisa", a song by Ben Folds
I'm Not Lisa pop song by country music artist Jessi Colter 1975
"Life Without Lisa," Bowling for Soup song