Lisa

Originally a continental short form of Elisabeth, derived from the Hebrew name Elisheva. The name appeared sporadically in late nineteenth-century American birth registrations before gathering momentum in the post-war decades. By the 1960s, parents regularly chose the concise two-syllable form over the traditional four-syllable parent name.

A Lisa is almost never eight months old. The name reads as someone who learned long division on paper and remembers the hum of a cathode-ray television. Over half of living bearers belong to Generation X, with another third born during the late baby boom. Hearing the name called out on a contemporary playground feels like spotting a rotary telephone on an office desk.