Alyssa is an English name that is read either as a form of Alice, "noble", or as a borrowing of the alyssum flower, whose Greek name means "without madness" because the plant was thought to cure rabies. Actress Alyssa Milano made it a household name in the 1980s. Alyssa ranked number 12 in the United States in 2000, left the top 100 in 2016 and has fallen every year since, to number 453 in 2025.