Origin of the name Alice:

A name that has evolved through a series of variants of the Germanic Adalheidis, a compound name composed of the elements adal (noble, nobility) and heid (kind, sort): hence, "noble one." Adalheidis was contracted to Adalheid, which the French changed to Adelaide, then contracted to Adaliz, and contracted yet again to Aaliz, Alia, and Alix. The English then changed the spelling to Aeleis, Alys, and eventually to Alice.

From A World of Baby Names by Teresa Norman.Buy the book