Liset
Feminine · “little Elisabeth”
Liset is a French diminutive with its French letters removed, and the woman who made the fuller form famous taught the most influential American photographer of her generation to walk up to strangers and photograph them from a few feet away.
How old is the name Liset?
Liset first appears in US birth records in 1967 — 58 years ago. The typical Liset alive today was born around 1994, making them about 31 years old. About 1,000 people named Liset are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Liset most popular?
Liset peaked in 1999, reaching #1874 nationally. See the whole 1999 chart.
Where it comes from
From a Hebrew name about God and an oath to Liset
The story of Liset
Lisette Model came out of Vienna, took up photography in her thirties, and made pictures of people on the promenade at Nice and on the streets of New York that are close, unflattering and entirely without condescension. She taught for decades at a New York school, and her most famous student took the approach further than she had — close, square, formal, and looking straight at people the world preferred not to look at. Model said afterwards that she had never taught anybody anything, which is the standard thing for a good teacher to say and is not usually true.
Meaning
little Elisabeth
The base is Elisabeth, a Hebrew name about God and an oath, and the ending is the French diminutive. French would write it with a double t and a final e, both of which this spelling drops; neither is audible in English, so the alteration costs nothing and marks the name as American rather than French.
How the name formed
- a Hebrew name about God and an oath
- French produces the diminutive Lisette
- American families simplify the spelling
- a photographer makes the fuller form known
- Liset appears in the record in the 1960s
Related forms: Lisette · Lisette · Elisabeth
Pronouncing Liset
lee-SET
Two syllables with the stress at the back, following the French ending. Spanish-speaking families say it the same way, which is one reason the spelling has held.
Nicknames for Liset
Moderate
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
- 1967
- Most girls named
- 199984 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1874reached in 1999
- Change vs 2012
- 0.0%9 in 2013, from 9
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.
Liset in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Lisette in French — spelling variant
- Lisette in Spanish — spelling variant
- Elisabeth in English — related form
Lisets among us
people named Liset are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Liset sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is short, elegant and read correctly at sight in English, French and Spanish.
- Elisabeth stands behind it as a formal option for anybody who wants one.
- The simplified spelling makes it easier to write than the French original.
- Lisette is the standard spelling and will be substituted regularly.
- It reads as a diminutive, which some people find slight for an adult.
- The name is genuinely rare in America and will need spelling out.
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Liset
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Lisets are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Liset are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Liset in 2025?
- Liset is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Liset with classmates?
- Liset will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More L names
The most-given names starting with L, all years combined.
Linda#902 · Lisa#987 · Laura#379 · Lauren#401 · Lillian#57 · Lori#1721 · Louise#514 · Lois#1666
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Liset? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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