Alyssa

Where Alyssa comes from

A 20th-century invention. Possible origins: * From alyss(um) (“a plant of the genus Alyssum”) + -a. * From Alicia, of Germanic origin. * From Elissa.
— Wiktionary's entry for Alyssa
  • Germanic
  • 3 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1950
    First appearance
    #5,301 among girls, 5 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1972
    Alyssa Milano born
    American actress
  3. 1985
    Alyssa Diaz born
    American film and television actress
  4. 1999
    Peak, #11
    14,036 babies named Alyssa — more than any year before or since.
  5. 2010
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #21.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from the Germanic languages, popular in the US in the 1990s and the 2000s.
Namesakes
  • Alyssa Milano · American actress, born 1972
  • Alyssa Diaz · American film and television actress, born 1985
  • Alyssa Naeher · American soccer player, born 1988
  • Alyssa Sutherland · Australian actress and model, born 1982
  • Alyssa Thomas · American basketball player, born 1992

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.