Alison

Alison is a medieval French diminutive of Alice, itself derived from the Old French form Aalis, a contracted version of the Old High German name Adalheidis, composed of the elements adal, meaning noble, and heid, meaning kind or type. The name was carried to Britain after the Norman Conquest and became widely popular in medieval England and Scotland, appearing notably in Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales as the name of the Wife of Bath. It enjoyed a strong revival in the twentieth century across English-speaking countries. Related forms include Alice, Alicia, Allison, and Alyson.