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If the origin is unknown, how can the name have a "meaning"? Or at least, the meaning given would be metaphorical or mystical and have nothing to do with etymological history.
Anyssa is best thought of as a simple spelling variation of Anissa. This may be simply a name created by blending sounds from names like Anna and Melissa, or perhaps is a variation of Anisia, (Greek “fulfillment”), the name of a saint martyred in Thessalonica around 300 A.D. It's unlikely to have an etymological connection with "star flower."
Anyssa is best thought of as a simple spelling variation of Anissa. This may be simply a name created by blending sounds from names like Anna and Melissa, or perhaps is a variation of Anisia, (Greek “fulfillment”), the name of a saint martyred in Thessalonica around 300 A.D. It's unlikely to have an etymological connection with "star flower."
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Anissa
Anissa is a form used in French and Catalan (Anisa in Spanish and Anisah in English) to transcript the Arabic feminine name Anisah, "friendly, affectionate" or "close friend". It is a very usual feminine name in Morocco, e.g.
Once, a Catalano-Moroccan girl named Anissa told me that, despite of the Arabic origin, in some Aragonese Mediaeval documents appears the form Anisa as variant/derivated form of Ana, but I haven't been able to find it.
Lumia
http://onomastica.mailcatala.com
Anissa is a form used in French and Catalan (Anisa in Spanish and Anisah in English) to transcript the Arabic feminine name Anisah, "friendly, affectionate" or "close friend". It is a very usual feminine name in Morocco, e.g.
Once, a Catalano-Moroccan girl named Anissa told me that, despite of the Arabic origin, in some Aragonese Mediaeval documents appears the form Anisa as variant/derivated form of Ana, but I haven't been able to find it.
Lumia
http://onomastica.mailcatala.com
1
OK, but that's unlikely to be the main origin of the name Anissa as used in the USA, which clearly goes back to the actress Anissa Jones around 1967. It seems highly unlikely to me that her parents would have used a French or Catalan form of an Arabic name when she was born around 1960.
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Anissa is the "correct" transcription in French and Catalan because the double SS represents a [s] sound and the simple S represents a [z] sound. In Spanish, the tanscription Anissa is not correct because there is not SS, but sometimes this group is used because of French/English influence.
In English, the more usual (and correct according my Arabic names book) transcription is Anisah, but I found it spelled Anissa, too:
http://www.proz.com/kudoz/9333?float=1
"Anissa Mariam Bouzianne, an Arab-American writer and filmmaker" (http://www.religioustolerance.org/dixon_011.htm)
"Anissa
Language of origin: Arabic
Variants: Anissa Arabic (#680 in US popularity) " (http://www.aboutnames.ch/HWA.htm)
Probably the name was popularised in US by Anissa Jones, but her name was Arabic (and very used in Lebanon).
"Mary Anissa Jones was born in West Lafayette, Indiana to Purdue students John P. Jones and Mary P. Tweel on March 11, 1958. Pronounced , her name is Lebanese and means "Little Friend." (http://www.franksreelreviews.com/shorttakes/anissajones.htm?sourceid=00387356854394375831&ISBN=158754010X&bfdate=07-26-2002+08:07:40)
"Mary Anissa Jones (...)Anissa is pronounced "Ah-NEES-ah" (rhyming with Lisa not Melissa) and in Arabic means "little friend"." (http://psychcentral.com/psypsych/Anissa_Jones)
"Mary Anissa Jones (...) Her name, Anissa, was Lebanese for 'little friend'." (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0427490/bio)
I don't know, obviously, if her parents have a Lebanese/Arabic background, if they knew the name from a book or from a friend, for example, etc., but the origin of her name is Arabic.
Lumia
http://onomastica.mailcatala.com
In English, the more usual (and correct according my Arabic names book) transcription is Anisah, but I found it spelled Anissa, too:
http://www.proz.com/kudoz/9333?float=1
"Anissa Mariam Bouzianne, an Arab-American writer and filmmaker" (http://www.religioustolerance.org/dixon_011.htm)
"Anissa
Language of origin: Arabic
Variants: Anissa Arabic (#680 in US popularity) " (http://www.aboutnames.ch/HWA.htm)
Probably the name was popularised in US by Anissa Jones, but her name was Arabic (and very used in Lebanon).
"Mary Anissa Jones was born in West Lafayette, Indiana to Purdue students John P. Jones and Mary P. Tweel on March 11, 1958. Pronounced , her name is Lebanese and means "Little Friend." (http://www.franksreelreviews.com/shorttakes/anissajones.htm?sourceid=00387356854394375831&ISBN=158754010X&bfdate=07-26-2002+08:07:40)
"Mary Anissa Jones (...)Anissa is pronounced "Ah-NEES-ah" (rhyming with Lisa not Melissa) and in Arabic means "little friend"." (http://psychcentral.com/psypsych/Anissa_Jones)
"Mary Anissa Jones (...) Her name, Anissa, was Lebanese for 'little friend'." (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0427490/bio)
I don't know, obviously, if her parents have a Lebanese/Arabic background, if they knew the name from a book or from a friend, for example, etc., but the origin of her name is Arabic.
Lumia
http://onomastica.mailcatala.com
1
OK, but I'm still a bit suspicious. Publicity agents of Hollywood stars have been known to put out false information about their names. Plus, parents who come up with unusual names on their own have been known to "adopt" explanations of the name after the fact if they later run across a name that accidentally resembles the one they came up with. So I'm willing to give you a "possibly" on this one, but to be 100% sure I'd want an explanation from Mr. & Mrs. Jones about how they found a Lebanese name in Indiana in 1958.
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