Alisha

A phonetic variant of Alicia, tracing back through Old French to the Germanic Adalheidis. It surfaced in American birth registries right after World War II, offering an unambiguous pronunciation that bypasses the soft-c confusion of its parent name. It also shares phonetic territory with an unrelated South Asian name, broadening its footprint in late twentieth-century registries.

The name places its bearer squarely in the late eighties and early nineties. It belongs to the era of neon windbreakers, cassette singles, and deliberate phonetic spellings. An Alisha is rarely mistaken for someone born before 1970 or after 2010. She is generally assumed to know the exact lyrics to at least three TLC songs.