Alison

Norman tapestries, English village registers, Chaucer — Alison has been around long enough to have witnessed several centuries of change without changing much itself. The name began as a medieval French pet form of Alice, itself derived from the Germanic Adelheidis meaning "noble." Chaucer's Wife of Bath, one of the most vivid characters in English literature, introduces herself as Alisoun, giving the name an early literary credential it still carries.

Alison peaked in America during the 1970s and 1980s, a moment when French-inflected names were fashionable without needing to be foreign. It dipped, as peaks do, and now sits at rank 465, where it reads as slightly vintage — old enough to feel deliberate, not so old as to feel dusty. The Elvis Costello song didn't hurt its staying power. Nothing dates Alison because Alison predates the concept of dating.

Three syllables fall easily — AL-i-son — with none of the fussiness of similar-length names; it requires no rehearsal to say confidently the first time. It sits comfortably beside Amirah, Gracelyn, or Anahi. The girl named Alison has probably been recommended a book by a stranger at a coffee shop, accepted graciously, and actually read it. She has been doing that her whole life.