Lysa
Feminine
Lysa writes a very familiar name with a y, and the letter it borrows is the Greek one. In Greek that letter opens a word about loosening and undoing, which biology later took for one of the more dramatic things a cell can do.
How old is the name Lysa?
Lysa first appears in US birth records in 1951 — 74 years ago. The typical Lysa alive today was born around 1974, making them about 51 years old. About 700 people named Lysa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Lysa most popular?
Lysa peaked in 1968, reaching #2091 nationally. See the whole 1968 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Lysa
Greek lysis means a loosening or a setting free, and it is all over the technical vocabulary of English. Analysis is a loosening-up, taking a thing apart to see it. Paralysis is a loosening on one side. Catalysis is a dissolving-down. In cell biology, lysis is what happens when a membrane fails and the contents come out, which is the end of that cell and often the point of a virus. The word is doing the same job in all of them: something held together stops being held together. It is a surprisingly violent root for a syllable that turns up so often in names.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Lisa is the obvious parent and is itself a short form of Elisabeth, whose Hebrew sense is documented. Whether the y here is decorative or reaching toward the Greek is not recorded.
Pronouncing Lysa
LEE-suh
Two syllables with the stress in front, said exactly like Lisa. LYE-suh is occasionally tried by readers meeting it cold.
Nicknames for Lysa
Limited
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
- 1951
- Most girls named
- 196833 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2091reached in 1968
- Change vs 2013
- −16.7%5 in 2022, from 6
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.
Lysas among us
people named Lysa 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
Lysa 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
- The sound is completely familiar, so it is rarely a puzzle to say.
- Four letters and two syllables: quick to write and easy to learn.
- The y makes it visually distinct from a very common name, which is what it is for.
- Lisa is the standard spelling by an enormous margin and this one will be corrected to it constantly.
- The y invites a long i on first sight, which is the usual correction.
- No origin is documented for this spelling, so the meaning question belongs to the standard name.
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Lysa
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Lysas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Lysa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Lysa in 2025?
- Lysa is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Lysa with classmates?
- Lysa 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 Lysa? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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