The name Lisa

I'm in my 40s and throughout school, I had numerous classmates named Lisa, mostly popular and smart girls. But today in that cohort, hardly any women I know are named Lisa and there are few famous Lisas. Is it me?

• It must have been one of the most popular names for baby girls born in the 1960s. Lisa Kudrow, Lisa Bonet, Lisa Renna...

• I just had a comeback and was voted America's sweetheart on Survivor

  Lisa%20W

• Believe it or not, girls were named after Lisa Marie Presley--that's how beloved Elvis was in the day.

• I went to middle school in the mid '90s and high school later in the decade and there were several girls named Lisa, so it was still popular in the '80s.

• If you're in your 40s OP, all of the Lisa was a result of the very popular soap opera character of the same name. You will find that throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, popular culture played a heavy influence on the naming of children.

• I was class of 1988 and in my graduating class of about 200 kids, there were probably 20 Lisas. It doesn't sound like a lot, but considering we had only one each of Judy, Tammy and Veronica, it was an overwhelmingly popular name. We may have actually had more Jennifers than Lisas, now that I think of it. 1970 must have been a huge Lisa/Jennifer year for some reason.

• We had a lot of Lisas in the Baby Boom '50s where I lived. I don't mind the name "Lisa." Have known some great gals with that name. Now from that same era the name "Debbie" is an instant turn off for me. Every single "Debbie" I have ever known has been a cunt. For males, the name "Wayne" is one that is colored by some jerks with that name.

• The Social Security Administration shows Lisa was the most popular girl's name for newborns each year from 1962-69 and stayed in the Top 10 through '76. Lisa Marie Presley was born in '68 so the popularity predates her birth.

  http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/#ht=2

  Anonymous

• Weird fact: the girl's name "Lisa" only became hugely popular in the USA after the Mona Lisa famously toured this country in 1963 (the first time in centuries it had been let out of France).

• Jennifer became big starting around 1970 because of Love Story. Lisa was very popular during the 60s but not as much before or after.

• And "Debbie/Debby," and for that matter also "Tammy," became popular women's names in the Fifties primarily because of the popularity of Debbie Reynolds and her movie "Tammy and the Bachelor."

• Maybe later ones were named after Lisa Looptner.

• Did the popularity of Lisa come from the movie "David & Lisa"?

• And what about my very popular name... Obviously the very beautiful Miss Ladd.

  Cheryl

• My parent's liked the name so much, they named me twice!

  Lisa%20Lisa%20%28and%20the%20Cult%20Jam%29

• Im in my 50's and we had a lot of Susans and Lindas.

• Lindas and Susans began sprouting in the 50's after Shirley Temple named her daughter Linda Susan.

• The first daytime bitch, and the reason for many girls being named Lisa...

  http://www.welovesoaps.com/wls2/classicatwt10.jpg

• Lisa sounds O-L-D

  Brittanny Tiffani Courtney

• I remember on an episode of DESIGNING WOMEN, Julia was bemoaning the loss of names like Bertha and Beulah and shudders at the thought that one day future generations will have grandmothers named Heather and Tiffany. Haha!

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• My cousin, Lisa, is in her 40s. I'm 31. We had tons of Ashleys and Justins and Sarahs and Michaels.

• My former sister-in-law's sister's boyfriend was named Justin Thyme ___________ (forget his last name). He said that his was an unplanned pregnancy, and that, in fact, his mother had planned to get her tubes tied, but he came along before the procedure. So she waited until he was born.

• My name is Julie.

  http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DtVs-d4eBq9k

• I always thought Lisa was a diminuative of Elizabeth. Are people really named just Lisa?

• When I was growing up there was a great amount of Maureen's, Patricia's, Margaret's and Susan's. I was born in the 50's. Maureen O'Hara, Patricia Neal, Susan Hayward and Margaret Sullivan... answers that one. A lot of Michaels too.

• Where are the Debbies and Donnas and Cindys of yesteryear?

  1958

• Susan was popular in the 50s due to the popularity of a 60 year old Susan Lucci a big vaudeville star.

  D.H.

• It's LIZA with a Z, not LISA with an S!

  Kander and Ebb

• Lisa became popular when Green Acres came on the air.

• Maybe they were named after Wednesday Addams actress Lisa Loring

• I am in my mid-forties, and I also had many Lisas in my class. Melissa was also popular.

• I am a Lisa and reading this is kind of freaking me out.

• Sandra was another formerly popular name. My sister had friends named Sandy. It first became popular in 1913 and became very popular in the 1930s at number 15, then peaked at number 5 in 1947. She fell off the charts by the mid-1980s. Poor Sandra.

• In the 1970s, it was popular to name your kids with the same first letter. Quite a few "J" familes lived on our block: Jason, Jamie, Jarod, Justin, Jeremy, Jesse, Jordan, Jonathan, Jessica, Jody, Jennifer. It was the pre-Jaden days.

• I go by my middle name because "Mona" sounds weird.

• The name Lisa is a lesbian's name. Think Wendy and Lisa of the Revolution. It's funny that that Wendy dumped that Lisa and hooked up with another Lisa, Lisa Cholodenko director of The Kids are Alright.

• I actually really like the name, Lisa for some reason and think it would be fine for today even. Elizabeth, well Elisabeth, could be Lisa or Liz, Eliza, Elisa or of course, Beth or she could just stick to Elisabeth or Elizabeth. To me Tammy is a much more dated name. And yes, Debbie seems like a very dated name. I`m a child of the sixties, so I went to school with a lot of Jackies and Donnas like in That 70s Show. There were also quite a few Dianes, Susans and Karens. For the guys, Mark, David, Jeff and Brad (Bradley) were very popular.

  Anonymous

• Oh, how could I forget Liza!

  sorry%20Ms.%20Minelli

• Hi Lisa I'm calling from inside the house.

• We had Lisas in my grade school class, but it sounded a bit "fast" and/or European, according to my mother. And the only Melissas were Jewish (but from very nice families, said Mom). The world has changed.

  40-something

• I agree with R41, there is something vaguely "not nice" about the name Lisa. Like she might wear a pencil skirt while the other girls wear A-line and she smokes with the cool boys instead of joining badminton with the other girls.

• I will iron your sheets when you iron out the inequities in your labor laws.

  Lisa%20Simpson

• Yes, OP there were four Lisas in my 6th grade class. I don't know a single Lisa now. There were a lot of Johns too. I only know of one John now.

• Those who cite Lisa from "As the World Turns" are correct. Eileen Fulton could barely walk down the street in the mid-Sixties without being mobbed. CBS even gave Lisa her own prime-time show called "Our Private World" for a little while.

• R41 & R42 -- Isn't "Lisa" the name of that smoking bitch on the Chantix commercial? See there! Further fuel added to the "Scuzzy Lisa" fire!

• The baby name wizard. Track the rise and fall of baby names over the last 100 years.

  http://www.babynamewizard.com/voyager

  Mary%2C%20in%20a%20death%20spiral

• "Lisa" was the most popular name for girls in the '60s, according to the Baby Name Wizard, an no slouch in the '50s.

• None of those Lisa bitches knows how to spell.

  Leeza%20Gibbons

• There was a hit record in the 50s which spawned 1,000s of Lisas

  NK%20Cole

• Yeah, my friends are Sarahs, Beckys, Lisas, Annas, Emmas, Jessicas, Kates, Rachels, If you wanted to go crazy you called your kid 'Jay lee' in all seriousness that wa 'crazy' beyond belief in my town. 15 years later...

• There must have been a big trend with the name Michelle, too. I have seven Michelles in my Facebook friends list. I guess it was the Beatles song? All of these women are late 30s-early 40s. I also know quite a few Jennifers in that range...a couple of Lisas.

• OTOH Lana, Ava, Rita and even Marilyn never inspired many namesakes. Do you think it was because something impure was attached to those names?

• Went to college with a Lisa, a Nisa and a Misa.

• The Lisa's I have known have all been a bit, LD.

• I don't recall that many Lisas, but holy crap were there a lot of Jennifers. And Marie as a middle name was everywhere.

• I would venture to say that Lisa, Jennifer and Michelle were the 3 most popular names of the 60s/70s. At least, if you grew up in suburban NY/NJ/CT/Philly.

• I knew a girl who spelled her name Jenifr. *eyeroll*

• The name Nancy is never used anymore. Same with Linda.

• My name is Lisa and I was born in the 1955. It was not a common name then. My mother's name is Mona so that's why they thought of it. By the time I was a teenager there were tons of little Lisas. I think it was mostly due to Lisa Marie Presley being born in 1968.

• "I'm not Lisa"

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOgTVJOdFVU

• My niece was born in 1962 and I remember thinking her name at the time was fresh and original (I was a little gayling then!). But I don't think Lisa was considered especially unusual or unconventional at the time. It just wasn't common.

• Absolutely agree with R57, I'm from suburban NY (Long Island) but I would add Kim, Kelly and Tracy/Tracey to the list as well.

• Actually, I was kidding but this seems to suggest the connection between the As The World Turns Lisa and the popularity of the name isn't so far fetched...

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Grimaldi

• [quote]but I would add Kim, Kelly... to the list as well. You summoned?

  Busy%20Philips

• My friend who is a college professor says she has had a lot of Chelseas, Emilys, Madisons, Megans, Caitlins, and Kates in her classes over the past few years as well as Dylans, Codys, Jacks and Jakes. Based on current list of popular names, it looks like the class of 2030 will have a lot of Bellas, Avas, and Jakes. And I also think that the trend of giving kids first names that are surnames is here to stay. I was amazed when I was visiting my brother's family this Christmas and saw so many Christmas cards displayed with unbelievable first names, i.e. "Happy Holidays from Scott, Becky, Slater, Wells, and Breyerton." (I am not kidding on that list of names. The last part sounded like a law firm! And, all 3 of the kids on that holiday card were girls)

  Bella%20Madison%20Luca%20Apple%20Smith

• "Slater, Wells, and Breyerton" for girls? That's kids' stuff

  Baby%20Maxwell%20Simpson%20%28Jessica%27s%20girl%29

• I would like to punch the writers of the original Beverly Hills 90210 for inflicting Dylan on us.

• I cannot imagine an 80 year old man named Josh. The name sounds so young. Know what i mean?

• R68 - The name was gaining popularity long before the 90210 character.

• I actually burst into a laughing fit when I read R69. ITA!!

  Thanks%20for%20the%20laugh.%20I%20needed%20it%20tonight.%20%3A%29

• Don't forget Amy. It was a huge name in the 70s. And it was one of the first names I saw spelled multiple ways: Amy, Ami, Aimee, Amie, Aymie. But no matter how you spelled it, when someone yelled, "Hey Amy!" on the playground, 42 eyes looked at you and said, "What?"

• [quote] I knew a girl who spelled her name Jenifr. *eyeroll* What about Ginnifer Goodwin? Dumb name.

• R69 The corpse of Josh Logan begs to differ.

• Yeah or the equally dumb name, Gennifer Flowers. That would be okay for a clown. Names with spellings that differ from the common ones (I actually saw someone named Sebreena rather than Sabrina recently) really seem like the parents were illiterate and didn't know any better.

  Anonymous

• I'm a 40 year old Aussie and I also had at least five Lisa's and five Sandra's in my year, as well as several Tania's. The only name that outnumbered them all was Michelle. I friend of mine named michelle, told me just yesterday actually, that Michelle was by far the most popular name for girls born in 1972 with Lisa not far behind. I guess the trend was happening in all English speaking countries at the time. For the record Jason was the most popular name for boys. But I don't know any, which is odd.

• No Cheryls? I never met a Cheryl who wasn't hot to jump in the bed and get fucked hard.

• We just got a client who spells her name "Jeniphr". No joke.

• I'm not Lisa

  my%20name%20is%20Julie

• There was a book published in 1994 called "Beyond Jason & Jennifer: The Enlightened Guide to Naming Your Baby" that the Wall Street Journal said "was the arbiter of hip baby names." And this is why kids names have evolved into sounding like law firms.