Alison

Alison is a medieval French and English diminutive of Alice, itself derived from the Old French form Aalis, a contracted variant of the Old High German name Adalheidis, composed of the elements adal, meaning noble, and heid, meaning kind or type. The name was widely used in medieval England and France, and it appears memorably in Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales as the name of the Wife of Bath. In modern times it remains most common as a feminine given name in English-speaking countries, though in Brazil it is used as a masculine name, likely adopted for its phonetic appeal rather than its historical roots. Related forms include Alice, Alicia, Allyson, and Alyson.