Alice

How to say it

/ˈæl.ɪs/

What it means

Norman French smoothed-down form of the older Germanic Adalheidis, 'of noble kind.' The Alice of Wonderland made it the default name for sharp curious girls in 1865.

Alice descends from the Germanic Adalheidis (adal 'noble' + heid 'kind, sort'), which became Adelais in Old French and was eventually compressed to Alice. The same root gave us Adelaide and Heidi. Alice spread through medieval England with the Normans and was steady in the top hundred for centuries. Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1871) made the name globally recognizable; Alice in those books is sharp, curious, unflappable. It dipped through the late 20th century and is climbing again as part of the vintage revival. Common shorts include Al, Ali, and Allie.

Heads-up notes

• Pop culture

  Lewis Carroll's Alice is the dominant reference; Alice in Chains and Alice Cooper come up too. The Wonderland Alice is unflappable and curious — a charmingly flattering association.

Who's worn it

Historical figures, characters, and public faces who share the name. The cultural surface, for whatever weight you want to give it.

• Alice in Wonderland Lewis Carroll's 1865 novel, the most-translated work of English children's literature
• Alice Walker Novelist, The Color Purple, Pulitzer Prize 1983
• Alice Munro Canadian short-story writer, Nobel Prize in Literature 2013

Spelling variants

• Alyce
• Alicia
• Alis

Names with the same feeling

• Eloise Healthy, hardy
• Audrey Noble strength
• Violet Violet flower
• Hazel Hazel tree
• Ivy Ivy plant

See Alice from another angle