Head to head · Girls' names
Alicia vs Alyssa
#460 vs #453 in 2025
Alyssa is a whisker ahead (#453 vs #460 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Alyssa is stepping back from its peak, Alicia is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Alicia has the edge.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Alyssa leads 4 measures of 6; Alicia leads 1.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Alicia #767, Alyssa — — Alicia higher
- 1890s: Alicia #872, Alyssa — — Alicia higher
- 1900s: Alicia #904, Alyssa — — Alicia higher
- 1910s: Alicia #702, Alyssa — — Alicia higher
- 1920s: Alicia #478, Alyssa — — Alicia higher
- 1930s: Alicia #392, Alyssa — — Alicia higher
- 1940s: Alicia #328, Alyssa — — Alicia higher
- 1950s: Alicia #266, Alyssa #3751 — Alicia higher
- 1960s: Alicia #164, Alyssa #914 — Alicia higher
- 1970s: Alicia #81, Alyssa #383 — Alicia higher
- 1980s: Alicia #47, Alyssa #142 — Alicia higher
- 1990s: Alicia #82, Alyssa #23 — Alyssa higher
- 2000s: Alicia #151, Alyssa #15 — Alyssa higher
- 2010s: Alicia #331, Alyssa #90 — Alyssa higher
- 2020s: Alicia #431, Alyssa #318 — Alyssa higher
Alicia stood higher in 11 of 15 decades; Alyssa has held the lead since the 1990s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Alicia | Alyssa |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #767 | — |
| 1890s | #872 | — |
| 1900s | #904 | — |
| 1910s | #702 | — |
| 1920s | #478 | — |
| 1930s | #392 | — |
| 1940s | #328 | — |
| 1950s | #266 | #3751 |
| 1960s | #164 | #914 |
| 1970s | #81 | #383 |
| 1980s | #47 | #142 |
| 1990s | #82 | #23 |
| 2000s | #151 | #15 |
| 2010s | #331 | #90 |
| 2020s | #431 | #318 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Alicia
noble kind; of noble sort
The Germanic original joined a word for noble to one meaning kind or sort, and French shortened it drastically — the full form survives separately as Adelaide. Latin then relatinised the French short form, which is where the spelling with a c comes from, and Spanish took it that way.
Adalheidis → Adelais → Alice → Alicia
How it traveled
A girl born in London to a Jewish family, dancing professionally from childhood, was taken into Diaghilev's company at fourteen and became one of the defining dancers of the twentieth century. She did not do it under her own name.
Alyssa
Either 'noble' (through Alice) or the flower alyssum, from Greek for 'without madness'
Most reference works treat Alyssa as an English respelling of Alice or Alicia, which descend from Germanic Adalheidis, 'noble kind'. The other serious reading is botanical: the flower name alyssum comes from Greek a- 'not' plus lyssa 'rabies, madness', because the plant was used in antiquity as a remedy for rabies. Both readings are genuinely held, and the spelling with -y- fits either.
Adalheidis → Adelaide → Alice → Alicia → Alyssa
How it traveled
The deep root is Germanic: Adalheidis, built from words for 'noble' and 'kind', which became Adelaide and then, worn smooth in medieval France and England, Alice. Spanish and Latin took the same name as Alicia, and it is from that longer form that the -ssa endings grew in English-speaking countries.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Alicia
uh-LEE-shuh
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. The c before the i does two jobs at once — it carries the sh sound and the following vowel — which is why families also say uh-LISS-ee-uh and neither is wrong.
- Ali — The front of the name, and the commonest everyday form.
- Licha — The Spanish familiar form, cut from the middle.
- Lissy — Built from the back of the name in English mouths.
Alyssa
uh-LISS-uh
Stress on the middle syllable. Some families say ah-LISS-uh; both are ordinary and neither needs correcting. The y is pronounced exactly like an i.
- Aly — The most common short form; also spelled Ally or Ali, and used as a standalone given name in its own right.
- Lyssa — Informal, taken from the second half of the name; occasionally registered on its own.
- Lissa — Informal variant of the same clipping, with the simpler spelling.
- Lyss — Very informal, mostly among friends and siblings.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Alicia if you want…
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 40% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 83% for Alyssa
Choose Alyssa if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsAlyssa is stepping back from its peak
- a name that feels very nowAlyssa is stepping back from its peak
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Alicia
Strengths
- It is at home in English and Spanish without being altered in either.
- Ali comes off it immediately and needs no explanation.
- The descent is documented all the way back to a Germanic compound.
To consider
- It has two accepted pronunciations, and a bearer will be correcting one of them all her life.
- Alisha, Alysia and Alecia are all recorded and will be written for it.
- It has been common for decades, so a classroom may hold more than one.
Alyssa
Strengths
- Pronunciation is obvious to English speakers on sight — no one has to be taught how to say it.
- Belongs to the Alice and Alicia family, so it connects easily across English, Spanish, French and Polish.
- Has established short forms already in real use: Aly, Lyssa, Lissa.
To consider
- The spelling competes with Alissa, Alisa, Alysa and Alyssia. Expect to spell it aloud fairly often, though 'Alyssa with a y' settles it quickly.
- It is closely tied to one generation of Americans now in adulthood, which is why it can read as recent rather than classic — and why a child named Alyssa is unlikely to share a classroom with another.
- The flower etymology, if you like it, comes with an odd literal sense — Greek for 'without madness', from a plant once used against rabies. Charming as a footnote, less so if you want a meaning that stands alone.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Alicia
40%chance Alicia feels dated by 2040
Alicia sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
Alyssa
83%chance Alyssa feels dated by 2040
Alyssa is coming down from a big peak (#11 in 1998). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Alicia and Alyssa in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Alicia and Alyssa?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Alicia and Alyssa — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Alicia or Alyssa — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Alicia or Alyssa?
- Alyssa, in 2025: Alyssa ranked #453 with 680 babies; Alicia ranked #460 with 672 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Alicia or Alyssa?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Alicia moved down 46 places; Alyssa moved down 254 places.
- Which is the older name, Alicia or Alyssa?
- Alicia entered the US charts in 1881; Alyssa entered the US charts in 1950. On the American record, Alicia is the older name.
- How many people are named Alicia and Alyssa?
- About 215,000 people named Alicia are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 310,000 people named Alyssa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Alicias or Alyssas in the classroom?
- Alicia will almost certainly be the only one in school. Alyssa will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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