She’s a German compound name all the rage in 21st century America.
Thanks to Jennifer for suggesting Anneliese as our Baby Name of the Day.
Few names are as enduring as Anne and Elizabeth. But like many a classic with long history of use, both names have generated a nearly bottomless list of variants. They meet in this name: the classic Anne paired with Liese, a German diminutive for Elizabeth, pronounced more or less like the English Lisa.
Anneliese is the traditional German spelling, and she has a four-syllable pronunciation, typically ann eh LEEZ uh or ann eh LEES uh. The logical phonetic spelling in English is probably Annalisa, a spelling that exists in other languages, too.
She’s more popular than you might imagine, with virtually every potential spelling on the upswing. The numbers for 2011 are as follows:
- Annalise (522 girls)
- Annelise (255 girls)
- Annaliese (204 girls)
- Analise (178 girls)
- Anneliese (165 girls)
- Annalisa (121 girls)
- Analisa (80 girls)
- Annalyse (72 girls)
- Analiese (69 girls)
Tally them up and it makes for a Top 200 choice, something that will likely come as a surprise to parents seeking an unusual name.
While she’s a legitimate German heritage choice, you’d be unlikely to meet a little Anneliese in Germany today. The name – like fellow compound Hannelore – is considered old-fashioned and out of favor. But American parents are mad for Ann- combos, like Annabelle and Annalee.
Famous Annelieses include:
- Berlin-born ballerina Anneliese von Oettingen, later an influential teacher
- German soprano Anneliese Rothenberger, who flourished from the 1940s into the 1980s
- Anneliese Michel, born in 1952, and said to be possessed by demons resulting in several attempted exorcisms, and many an account of her travails
- Lesser known fact: Anne Frank’s full given name was Annelies
Two uses are putting Anneliese in the spotlight today. First, there’ s young actress Anneliese van der Pol, who rose to fame as Chelsea on the Disney Channel’s original series That’s So Raven. There’s also Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper, a 2004 direct-to-video Barbie flick. The world’s most famous doll played a restless royal named Anneliese, who switches places with a penniless servant called Erika.
Throw in a socialite and a handful of athletes, and there’s no shortage of opportunities for parents to hear Anneliese. And if you hear her, you may very well fall in love. She’s right at home with elaborate, vowel-intensive choices so in favor today: Isabella, Olivia, Alexandra, Arianna. It is easy to imagine parents embracing Anneliese as something just a little bit different.
The only question is whether or not that will continue to be true. Anneliese – in all her variant forms – is stealthily catching on. For now, she remains an intriguing possibility for parents seeking something elaborate but not ordinary. The only trouble is which spelling to chose – the dominant Annalise? The phonetically straightforward Annalisa? Or the authentic Anneliese?
If you can resolve that debate, then Anneliese might just be the name for you.
I love Anneliese! (I’ve always pronounced it with only 3 syllables, though.) If we ever have another girl, it’s in the running for the middle spot.
We named our little girl Anneliese! She is named after my husbands grandmother who was born in Germany. I obviously love the name but love its uniqueness. I’m a teacher so names get ruined pretty often!
I knew an Annelise (Anna-LEES) who graduated two years ago, but she always pronounced it like Annelies.
I actually really like Anneliese and Hannelore both, despite not having any German heritage to speak of (of course I do have Scandinavian, but that only gets me so far).
I know an Annaliese (she pronounces it ANN-uh-LEES). I’ll send this post to her. 🙂
I went to college with an Anna-Liese and have always found the name to be pretty. Other than the traditional spelling, I think my favorite spelling would be Ana Lisa to get the aah-nah rather than ANN-a pronounciation and to break up the unfortunate word in the middle.
I seriously considered Annelise with my first pregnancy, but dropped it when two acquaintances used it and the spelling Analise. Two years later, when we had our daughter, we went with Annabel. I still love Annelise and Anneliese, but Annabel just fit our little girl. Also, when telling people I was thinking of Annelise, it got quite a bit of negative feedback. The biggest complaint was that it was too close to anal.
I love Anneliese, and Hannelore even more. But I feel the sheer number of spelling options for Anneliese de-class the name a smidge. I could be bit biased: My cousin named her now 4yo daughter Analyse. Blech to that spelling. Analyse’s sisters are @lexus and @leigh. Also, if you insist on the 4 syllable prn, you’ll probably be in the minority and that’s a shame.
All this time I thought it was pronounced Anna-leese! Now I feel silly. I’ve loved it since I was a child.
It often is. Well, that or Anna-leez. Ann eh LEES zuh may be closer to its original pronunciation in German, but most North American wearers I’ve met don’t pronounce that final syllable. And while I’m not familiar with That’s So Raven, my three-year-old fan of The Princess and the Pauper could tell you that Princess Anneliese’ name is pronounced the anglicized way.
Poor little Analise and Analisa. Life will be tough for them come 4the – 8th grade.
I love Annelise. But the Anne- prefixes are a little too common for me. Like Jane and most Jul- names, while they’re classic and pretty, they are too much everywhere for me.
I really like compound names that have already been compounded into one name, as well as German heritage choices. Sadly, fh simply WILL NOT get behind Hannelore (he says it sounds like a Tolkien dwarf). Anneliese might be a good compromise.
I like the Anneliese spelling but prefer the Annelies pronunciation – but that looks unfinished.