Alice is a feminine given name of Germanic origin, derived from the Germanic word "adali" which means "noble". The name was popularized by Lewis Carroll's novel "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", published in 1865. In the story, Alice is a young girl who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantastical world. Despite its association with the novel, the name predates it and has been used throughout history. Notable people named Alice include the English princess Alice of Battenberg (1885-1969), the French writer Alice Ferney (born 1950), and the Australian actress Alice Eve (born 1978).
The given statistics provide an interesting overview of the popularity of the name Alice in the United States over a span of approximately 140 years.
From 1880 to around the early 1920s, the number of girls named Alice at birth varied between roughly 700 to 12,000 annually. The peak during this period was reached in 1915 with 10,525 births, while the lowest point occurred in 1880 with only 1,414 births.
Post-1920s saw a decline in popularity for the name Alice, with numbers ranging from around 700 to 3,000 annually until the late 1960s. During this time, there were significant drops in usage, reaching an all-time low of just 858 births in 1977.
However, starting from the mid-1980s, there was a gradual resurgence in popularity for the name Alice. From around 700 births per year in the late 1980s to over 3,000 births annually by the early 2000s, the trend has continued steadily.
In recent years, the name Alice has seen consistent popularity with numbers hovering between 3,000 to 4,000 births per year. Despite fluctuations in popularity throughout history, Alice remains a classic and timeless name choice for parents in the United States.