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

Languages: This girl's name is used in English.

Nicknames: Lissa, Lyssa and Lissie

Alternative Spellings: Allyssa

Variant Forms: Illissa

Popularity: The name Alyssa ranked 12th in popularity for females of all ages in a sample of 2000-2003 Social Security Administration statistics, 448th in popularity for females of all ages in a sample of the 1990 US Census and 22nd in popularity for females of all ages in a sample of the 1994 US Census.

This name first made its appearance on state popularity lists of the 1990s, and has been trending upward in usage ever since.

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'').