Annelise
Feminine · “Anna ('grace”
Annelise is two old names joined into one: Anna, and Lise, the everyday short form of Elisabeth. German and Scandinavian families have built names this way for centuries — Annemarie, Annegret, Anna-Lisa — and this particular pairing turned up in American records early in the last century. Said aloud it runs as three unhurried syllables and lands on a soft s.
How old is the name Annelise?
Annelise first appears in US birth records in 1930 — 95 years ago. The typical Annelise alive today was born around 2009, making them about 16 years old. About 6,400 people named Annelise are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Annelise most popular?
Annelise peaked in 2025, reaching #1071 nationally. Today it ranks #1071, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Where it comes from
From Ḥannāh to Annelise
The story of Annelise
Compound given names were a long-running habit in German-speaking Europe and Scandinavia: a first element like Anna or Maria fused to a second, producing Annemarie, Anneliese, Anna-Lisa. Both halves here arrived through scripture — Anna from Hebrew Ḥannāh by way of Greek, Elisabeth from Elisheva, whose Greek form reached western Europe through the Gospel of Luke and became so common that Lise, Lies and Lisa served as its household short forms. Spelling shifted with the border: Anneliese in Germany, Annelies in the Netherlands, Annelise in Denmark and Norway, Anne-Lise in France. The Dutch form belonged to the diarist Anne Frank, whose full given name was Annelies Marie. German and Scandinavian immigration carried all of these versions into American use, where the -lise spelling has held steady.
Meaning
Anna ('grace, favor') joined to Elisabeth
The Anna half comes from Hebrew Ḥannāh, 'grace, favor'. The Elisabeth half goes back to Hebrew Elisheva, read either as 'my God is an oath' or 'my God is abundance' — that older element is the unsettled part, not the compound itself.
How the name formed
- Ḥannāh
- Anna
- Anna + Lisefrom Elisabeth
- Anneliese
- Annelise
Related forms: Anneliese · Annelies · Annelise · Anne-Lise · Anna-Lisa · Anneli
Pronouncing Annelise
AN-uh-leese
That is the usual English reading, with a hissed s at the end. The German Anneliese has four syllables — ah-nuh-LEE-zuh — and Danish keeps a z-ish ending too, so both a 'leese' and a 'leez' finish are correct in their own languages. Expect to say which one you use.
Nicknames for Annelise
High
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1930
- Most girls named
- 2025226 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1071reached in 2025
- Change vs 2024
- +28.4%226 in 2025, from 176
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Annelise in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Anneliese in German — spelling variant
- Annelies in Dutch — spelling variant
- Annelise in Danish and Norwegian — same name
- Anne-Lise in French — spelling variant
- Anna-Lisa in Swedish — related form
- Anneli in Finnish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Annelises among us
people named Annelise are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 7,112 born in 2025 was named Annelise
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Annelise
- #1071
- Annelise on the 2025 chart
- #713
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Annelise went to 226 girls in 2025, but Anelise and Annelyse are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 249, which makes it the 713th most-given girls’ name of the year — 358 places above the chart.
- Annelise226
- Anelise13
- Annelyse10
About 1 girl in 6,455 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 7,112 for Annelise itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Elicia test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Annelise's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Elicia climbed just as high around 1983, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Elicia's path sketches the road Annelise is walking now.
Annelise is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Annelise is headed
Annelise should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Annelise beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Annelise in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Every syllable is spelled the way English readers expect to say it, so the name reads correctly on first sight even where it is unfamiliar.
- Comes with several ready-made short forms — Annie, Anne, Lise, Anna — each of which is already a complete name elsewhere.
- Recognized in German, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian and French, in forms close enough that the name survives a border crossing intact.
- On US records for close to a century, with a line of use in Europe far longer than that.
- Uncommon enough that a child is unlikely to share it with a classmate, without being a name anyone has to ask twice about.
- The spelling has real competition: Anneliese, Annelies, Annalise, Annaliese, Anna-Lise and Annalisa all exist. Expect to spell it out, and expect the occasional letter addressed to one of the others.
- People who know the German or Danish version may say the ending as 'leez' rather than 'leese', and the German form adds a fourth syllable. Neither is a mistake, so decide which you want at home.
- Because Anna and Annie are so familiar, the full three syllables tend to get trimmed by others fairly quickly — worth knowing if it is the whole name you love.
- Being the only Annelise in a school cuts both ways: no confusion over which one, but also a lifetime of gentle corrections when someone reaches for Annalise instead.
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Put Annelise to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Annelise
Feminine · #1071 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Annelises are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 6,400 people named Annelise are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Annelise?
- Annelise is the most-used spelling in US records — 226 of the 249 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Anelise and Annelyse.
- How popular is the name Annelise in 2025?
- Annelise ranks #1071 among US girl names in 2025, with 226 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Annelise?
- About 1 in every 7,112 US girls born in 2025 was named Annelise — 226 in all.
- Will my child share the name Annelise with classmates?
- Annelise will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Annelise
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Harriet#1071 · Kara#1071 · Joyce#1071 · Aniya#1071 · Bailee#1069 · Lailani#1069 · Rubi#1076 · Ann#1076
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Annelise? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Annelise and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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