Alisa

About Alisa

Alisa is an international form of Alice, with a meaning connected to “nobility.” It appears in languages including Russian, Ukrainian and Finnish, where the same spelling can have different rhythms. A separate Hebrew use connects Alisa with Aliza, meaning “joyful.” Cellist Alisa Weilerstein is a prominent contemporary bearer of the name.

Meaning and European history

In its Alice tradition, Alisa ultimately goes back to the Germanic name Adalheidis. That name combined adal, “noble,” with heit, “kind” or “type.” Old French shortened it through Adelais and Aalis, giving rise to Alice. Adelaide belongs to the same family through another French form.

Alice was popular in medieval France and England and later travelled into many other languages. Alisa is a form used in Russian, Ukrainian, Bosnian, Finnish and Georgian. In Russian it is written Алиса; the Latin spelling Alisa makes its relationship with Alice particularly easy to see.

The wider family includes Alicia, Polish Alicja, Latvian Alise and Finnish Aliisa. The doubled I in Aliisa distinguishes that Finnish spelling from Alisa, while both belong to the Alice family.

A separate Hebrew connection

Alisa is also used as a variant of the Hebrew name Aliza. In that tradition the meaning is “joyful.” This is an independent origin, rather than another translation of the Germanic elements behind Alice. The spelling therefore carries more than one established naming background.

Music and literature

American cellist Alisa Weilerstein received a MacArthur Fellowship in 2011. She began playing cello as a preschooler and made her debut with a professional orchestra at thirteen. Alongside her concert career, she earned a degree from Columbia University in 2004 and performed chamber music with her parents in the Weilerstein Trio.

Her repertoire brings together established concert works and contemporary compositions. In 2007, she worked with composer Osvaldo Golijov on a revision of his cello concerto Azul, a work incorporating accordion and percussion alongside the orchestra. Her career gives Alisa a specific association with classical performance and collaboration with living composers.

The name's relationship with Alice also brings a literary connection. Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland appeared in 1865, followed by Through the Looking-Glass in 1871. Alisa is a linguistic relative of the heroine's English name, joining an internationally familiar name family with its own three-syllable form.

Pronunciation and short forms

Russian Alisa is approximately uh-LEE-suh, with the emphasis in the middle. Finnish Alisa places the stress at the beginning, approximately AH-lee-sah. In both, the S is unvoiced, like the S in “see.”

Alli and Iisa are Finnish short forms in the family. Ali or Allie could also serve as informal English shortenings. Alisa's extra final vowel gives it a different rhythm from the two-syllable English Alice, even though the names are closely related.

American popularity

Alisa's best American girls' ranking was #261 in 1969, with 1,108 births. The largest annual count followed in 1970, when 1,153 girls received the name. There were 415 in 2000 and 125 in 2025, when it ranked #1,654. Its American peak therefore belongs to the late 1960s and early 1970s, alongside a much broader international history.

How popular is Alisa?

In 2025, Alisa ranked #1,654 among girls in the United States, with 125 recorded uses. The U.S. birth records first list this spelling for girls in 1945; its largest annual count was 1,153 in 1970. Rankings count each spelling separately. They describe national use, so local familiarity can differ. The popularity chart shows whether the name has remained common, returned after a quieter period, or risen recently.