Lissie
Feminine
Lissie is a pet form from the era when pet forms were written on documents. Two syllables, an affectionate ending, and at least two entirely different full names standing behind it — which means the meaning depends on a question nobody thought to write down.
How old is the name Lissie?
Lissie was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Lissie alive today was born around 1916, making them about 109 years old. About 100 people named Lissie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Lissie most popular?
Lissie peaked in 1883, reaching #480 nationally. See the whole 1883 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Lissie
The bee is the better story, so it is worth being clear about how far it reaches. In Greek, melissa is the ordinary word for a honeybee. It named the nymph of myth who was said to have discovered honey, it was the title given to priestesses at more than one sanctuary, and it named the herb lemon balm, because bees go to it. All of that belongs to Melissa. It belongs to this name only if this name came from Melissa, and the households that used it left no note. What can be said without inventing anything is that Lissie is soft-edged, easy in the mouth, and was given at a time when American families wrote down the name they used rather than the name on the christening register — so whatever it stood for, it stood for what somebody was actually called.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Two candidates, and only one of them brings a meaning. Elizabeth, cut in the middle rather than at either end, gives Lissie by the same route it gives Lizzie. Melissa also gives it, and Melissa is the Greek word for a honeybee — the priestesses at certain ancient shrines were called by that word. Whether a particular Lissie inherits the bee or the Hebrew oath of Elizabeth cannot be recovered from the record.
Pronouncing Lissie
LISS-ee
Two syllables, stress at the front, with the short i of list. The doubled s keeps that vowel short and prevents a reading like Lisie.
Nicknames for Lissie
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
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 192431 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #480reached in 1883
- Change vs 2005
- +40.0%7 in 2022, from 5
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.
Lissies among us
people named Lissie 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
Lissie 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 gentle, short and immediately sayable by a small child about herself.
- It has the warmth that a name shaped like a nickname always carries.
- The spelling is phonetic and survives being dictated over a phone.
- It is close enough to Lizzie, Lissa and Lucy to be mistaken for each of them.
- With no settled full name behind it there is no formal version for a document.
- The name belongs to one particular American era and has not yet come back around.
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Lissie
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Lissies are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 100 people named Lissie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Lissie in 2025?
- Lissie is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Lissie with classmates?
- Lissie 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 Lissie? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Lissie and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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