Alyssa or Alissa?

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-04-2003
Alyssa or Alissa?
12
Tue, 03-21-2006 - 9:44am

I’m naming my daughter Alyssa or Alissa Marie. I don’t know which way I want to spell it though. My first name is Alisha and Alissa is only one letter off from my name and I’m not sure I’m in love with the idea of that. On the other hand I don’t want her name to be too “trendy”. What is more common? Alyssa or Alissa?

Please help!!

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-21-2006
Tue, 03-21-2006 - 12:39pm
I think Alissa is more common although the alternate spelling is also nice (but then again I prefer trendy!!!). It depends on how close you want her name to be to your own.
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-04-2003
Tue, 03-21-2006 - 1:36pm
Thanks for your reply. After my initial post I went to the social security baby names website and saw that Alissa was the 337th most popular name in 2004 and Alyssa was 14th in 2004. The Alyssa spelling is definately more popular. Gosh, such a hard decision. We've already begun to refer to her as "lissa" or "lissi" which is more consistant with the Alissa spelling. However most people will probably think that her name is the popular spelling of Alyssa so she'll be constantly correcting them.
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-14-2003
Tue, 03-21-2006 - 1:55pm
I've never seen Alissa. I like the way Alyssa looks best & it would cause less confusion in your daughter's future (as far as spelling issues go). Alissa isn't bad, though.
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-04-2003
Tue, 03-21-2006 - 2:14pm

Thanks for your response,

I agree, I think Alyssa is more visually appealing than Alissa.

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-29-2003
Tue, 03-21-2006 - 2:29pm

To me, they are pronounced differently...

Alissa (pron uh-lis-uh)

Alyssa (pron uh-lees-uh)

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-09-2005
Tue, 03-21-2006 - 2:34pm
To be honest, I think Alissa looks much more "trendy" than Alyssa does. I have always seen it spelt Alyssa, so that is probably why. When I see Alissa I just think that the parents were trying to make it more unique. But overall, I think Alyssa is prettier and more classy. Very nice name.

                             
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-04-2003
Wed, 03-22-2006 - 10:27am
Thanks for your response. I see your point. Alyssa is more common (and prettier) but Alissa to me is more phonetically correct but could also be seen as more trendy since it's not as common as the Alyssa spelling.
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-25-2003
Wed, 03-22-2006 - 11:42am
Alyssa
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-31-2004
Thu, 03-23-2006 - 1:45pm
My 13 year old daughter is Alyssa Marie and she is constantly being called Aleesia or Melissa....but that is just how it goes.....I still think it is a beautiful name.
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-04-2003
Thu, 03-23-2006 - 2:12pm

Wow - another Alyssa Marie. Thanks so much for responding! My name is Alisha Marie and it's supposed to be pronounced like "Uh-Lee-Sha" but I was constantly being called "Uh-Li-Sha". The more I think about it if I go with either spelling she will probably (at least on occassion) be called something different. Not sure why people would say Melissa though?

Does your daughter like her name? Does she wish it was spelled different? If you could have done it all over again would you have spelled it different?

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