Meaning: Its source is Alis, an Old French name meaning "Exalted nature."

Popularity: The name Alissa ranked 294th in popularity for females of all ages in a sample of 2000-2003 Social Security Administration statistics and 866th in popularity for females of all ages in a sample of the 1990 US Census.

Though this name has fluctuated in use, it has been quietly present throughout the last century.

Narrative: Alice's strongest association is with a blonde seven-year-old in a blue pinafore who fell down a rabbit hole. Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass were written in the 1860s and 1870s to entertain Alice Liddell, a young girl of his acquaintance.

Carroll was a mathematician who combined his delight in games and wordplay with a profound understanding of childhood's complex fascinations. While his books continue to delight little ones, they are also analyzed in philosophic works such as Douglas Hofstader's 1980 Pulitzer Prize winner Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid.

Alice's linguisitic family tree features cousin Adelaide (traced through its Germanic grandparent Adalheit) and child Allison (meaning ''Alice's son'').