Lisa

← Back to The High and Late Middle Ages

Girl · Hebrew, through German and Scandinavian

Lisa

Say it: LEE-suh

Try it with your surname

Meaning

A short form of Elisabeth.

Certainscholars agree on this meaning.

The top US girls' name from 1962 to 1969.

Its wave through time

A fashion of the 1960s

In the United States

968,611 babies given this name since 1886
At its height in 1965, about 1 in 29 girls
235 babies in 2020

Through the ages

Used by

Italian English German Swedish American

The family of the name

Other spellings: Leesa, Liza

German	Lisa
Swedish	Lisa
French	Lise
Russian	Liza

Famous bearers

Lisa Gherardini (Lisa del Giocondo), sitter for the Mona Lisa
Lisa Kudrow, US actress

Names worth a look

HelenGirlUncertain. Greek Helenē is often linked to helanē 'torch' or to selēnē 'moon', but no derivation is agreed; 'light'…Greece · peak 1911

AnnaGirlGreek and Latin form of Hebrew Ḥannah, 'grace, favour'.Biblical · peak 1891

SarahGirlHebrew Sarah, 'princess, noblewoman', from sar 'prince'. In Genesis she is first called Sarai, an older form of the…Biblical · peak 1981

LauraGirlUsually explained from Latin laurus 'laurel'; it may also be a short form of Laurentia.Middle Ages · peak 1968

MelissaGirlFrom Greek melissa 'honeybee'.Greece · peak 1979

CynthiaGirlGreek, 'woman of Mount Kynthos', an epithet of Artemis.Greece · peak 1957

LouisBoyFrom Frankish Chlodowig: hlod 'fame' and wig 'battle'; the same name as Clovis and Ludwig.Early Medieval · peak 1880

LeslieGirl or boyFrom a Scottish place in Aberdeenshire and the family named for it; the original Gaelic meaning is uncertain, and…Victorian · peak 1969

Where this comes from

Medieval and Renaissance Italian records, such as the Florentine tax survey of 1427
National birth statistics of European countries source
United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source

Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.

Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.