# Lisa
**Lisa** is a feminine given name, a short form of [Elizabeth](https://www.edgepedia.org/elizabeth-given-name) (Elisabeth) and its cognates in English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, and Italian, though it is often used independently as a full name in its own right.[1](https://www.behindthename.com/name/lisa) It was the single most popular American girls' name from 1962 to 1969 and remains in wide use in Nordic naming traditions.[1](https://www.behindthename.com/name/lisa) • [2](https://www.nordicnames.de/wiki/Lisa)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Origin | Short form of Elizabeth and its cognates; Nordic references also list derivation from Alice (Aliz) and from Louisa[1](https://www.behindthename.com/name/lisa) • [2](https://www.nordicnames.de/wiki/Lisa) |
| Ultimate root (Elizabeth derivation) | Biblical Hebrew אֱלִישֶׁבַע ("my God is an oath"), via Ancient Greek Ἐλισάβετ and Latin Elisabeth[3](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Lisa) |
| US peak | 60,271 births in 1965; top-ranked girls' name 1962–1969; more popular than the full form Elizabeth from 1958 to 1978[4](https://nameintime.com/us/lisa) • [1](https://www.behindthename.com/name/lisa) |
| US decline | Ranked 987th among girls in 2025 records, with 256 births[4](https://nameintime.com/us/lisa) |
| Nordic counts | Sweden 20,116 as main first name (32,437 including middle names); Denmark 5,548; Norway 5,187; Finland 3,518 including middle names[2](https://www.nordicnames.de/wiki/Lisa) |
| Name days | November 19 in Austria and the Finnish-Swedish calendar; September 2 in Norway and the Faroe Islands; September 20 in Sweden[1](https://www.behindthename.com/name/lisa) • [2](https://www.nordicnames.de/wiki/Lisa) |
| Early record | Documented in Sweden as early as 1558; in Denmark from the 19th century[2](https://www.nordicnames.de/wiki/Lisa) |
## Identity and disambiguation
The subject of this article is the given name. Other prominent entities share the title. The [Apple Lisa](https://www.edgepedia.org/apple-lisa), released on January 19, 1983, was a personal computer code-named after Lisa Brennan (now Brennan-Jobs); a backronym, "Local Integrated Systems Architecture," was invented to obscure the connection to [Steve Jobs](https://www.edgepedia.org/steve-jobs)' daughter, and the machine was the first GUI-based computer released by a personal computer company and a steppingstone to the Macintosh.[5](https://computerhistory.org/blog/the-lisa-apples-most-influential-failure/) The Thai-born singer Lalisa Manobal, a member of [Blackpink](https://www.edgepedia.org/blackpink), performs under the single stage name Lisa.[6](https://www.biography.com/musicians/a63785719/lisa)
## Etymology and linguistic forms
The standard derivation runs through the [Low German](https://www.edgepedia.org/low-german) short form of Elisabet, from Latin Elisabeth, from Ancient Greek Ἐλισάβετ, from the [Biblical Hebrew](https://www.edgepedia.org/biblical-hebrew) אֱלִישֶׁבַע, meaning "my God is an oath."[3](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Lisa) Behind the Name treats Lisa as a short form of Elizabeth and its cognates across English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, and Italian.[1](https://www.behindthename.com/name/lisa)
Derivation from Elisabeth is not the only scholarly account. Nordic Names lists three origins: a Low German short form of Elisabet, a pet form of Alice (see Aliz), and a short form of Louisa.[2](https://www.nordicnames.de/wiki/Lisa)
Pronunciation varies by language: /ˈliː.sə/ in English, /ˈliː.za/ in German and Italian, and /ˈli.saː/ in Dutch.[1](https://www.behindthename.com/name/lisa) Languages using non-Latin scripts have established equivalents, including Arabic لِيزَا (līzā), Mandarin 丽莎 (Lìshā), Greek Λίζα, Japanese リサ (Risa), Korean 리사 (Risa), and Russian Ли́за.[3](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Lisa)
## History of the name
The name is old in [Scandinavia](https://www.edgepedia.org/scandinavia). It is documented in Sweden as early as 1558 and appears in Denmark from the 19th century.[2](https://www.nordicnames.de/wiki/Lisa) Its spread as a standalone English given name came much later: Lisa was taken into general use as a full English name in the early 20th century, became very popular in the United States in the 1960s, and in the United Kingdom a decade later.[3](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Lisa) Nordic Names records its use across Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Faroese, and Greenlandic naming traditions, and it is officially approved as a given name in the [Faroe Islands](https://www.edgepedia.org/faroe-islands).[2](https://www.nordicnames.de/wiki/Lisa)
## Popularity over time
The United States shows the sharpest rise and fall. Lisa was more popular than the full form Elizabeth from 1958 to 1978 and was the top-ranked American girls' name between 1962 and 1969.[1](https://www.behindthename.com/name/lisa) Its recorded peak was 60,271 births in 1965.[4](https://nameintime.com/us/lisa) Usage has been falling for roughly two decades; the estimated living US population named Lisa is roughly one million or more, a residue of the mid-century peak.[4](https://nameintime.com/us/lisa) According to SSA statistics at the state level covering 2006 through 2025, Lisa was relatively most popular in Indiana, New York, and California.[4](https://nameintime.com/us/lisa)
[Nordic countries](https://www.edgepedia.org/nordic-countries) peaked at different times. Nordic Names identifies the strongest usage periods as Sweden 1910–1919 and again 1990–1999, Denmark in the 1960s and 1970s, and Norway from 1985 to 2000.[2](https://www.nordicnames.de/wiki/Lisa) [Wiktionary](https://www.edgepedia.org/wiktionary), citing Swedish register data, reports 31,611 females named Lisa living in Sweden on December 31, 2010, with frequency peaks in the 1910s and the 1990s, matching the Swedish pattern.[3](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Lisa)
## By the numbers
National registries count the name differently, which makes cross-country comparison imprecise. Nordic Names reports counts as the main first name: 20,116 in Sweden (32,437 including middle names), 5,548 in Denmark, 5,187 in Norway, and 3,518 in Finland including middle names; the Swedish register also records 4 men named Lisa.[2](https://www.nordicnames.de/wiki/Lisa) Statistics Norway data reported by Store norske leksikon give a different Norwegian figure: 5,450 women had Lisa as their sole or first given name in 2022.[3](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Lisa) The Swedish figures likewise diverge by date and definition: 20,116 main first names in the undated Nordic Names snapshot against 31,611 females in the 2010 Wiktionary figure.[2](https://www.nordicnames.de/wiki/Lisa) • [3](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Lisa)
## How it compares with related names
The clearest head-to-head comparison comes from the United States, where Lisa overtook the full form Elizabeth from 1958 to 1978.[1](https://www.behindthename.com/name/lisa)
## Cultural presence and name days
[Lisa del Giocondo](https://www.edgepedia.org/lisa-del-giocondo) is the name of the subject of [Leonardo da Vinci](https://www.edgepedia.org/leonardo-da-vinci)'s Mona Lisa, one of the world's most famous paintings.[1](https://www.behindthename.com/name/lisa) Literary bearers include Lise Bolkonskaya, also called Lisa, in Tolstoy's War and Peace (1869), and Lisa Palfy in the children's book Lisa and Lottie (1949).[7](https://www.behindthename.com/name/lisa/namesakes) Among modern bearers, the Blackpink member Lisa was born Lalisa Manobal, originally Pranpriya Manobal, in Buriram, Thailand, in 1997, and changed her first name as a young teenager.[6](https://www.biography.com/musicians/a63785719/lisa)
Name-day calendars fix the name in several countries: November 19 in Austria, September 2 in Norway and the Faroe Islands, September 20 in Sweden, and November 19 in the Finnish-Swedish calendar.[1](https://www.behindthename.com/name/lisa) • [2](https://www.nordicnames.de/wiki/Lisa)
## What has changed since 2023
The name's statistical decline has continued. In 2025 US baby-name records for girls, Lisa ranked 987th, with 256 births, against a peak of 60,271 births in 1965.[4](https://nameintime.com/us/lisa) In 2025, Blackpink's Lisa released her debut solo album [Alter Ego](https://www.edgepedia.org/alter-ego-lisa-album) in late February, took a role in The White Lotus Season 3, and performed at the 97th Academy Awards.[6](https://www.biography.com/musicians/a63785719/lisa)
## References
1. [Meaning, origin and history of the name Lisa, Behind the Name](https://www.behindthename.com/name/lisa)
2. [Lisa, Nordic Names](https://www.nordicnames.de/wiki/Lisa)
3. [Lisa, Wiktionary](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Lisa)
4. [Lisa — popularity, meaning and origin in the US, NameInTime](https://nameintime.com/us/lisa)
5. [The Lisa: Apple's Most Influential Failure, Computer History Museum](https://computerhistory.org/blog/the-lisa-apples-most-influential-failure/)
6. [Lisa: Biography, Blackpink Rapper, Lalisa Manobal, Actor, Biography.com](https://www.biography.com/musicians/a63785719/lisa)
7. [Namesakes for the name Lisa, Behind the Name](https://www.behindthename.com/name/lisa/namesakes)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Social life and human behavior › Communities and populations › Retained social institution classes*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license