My name is Elissa, and I hate it. It's basically Alyssa with an E instead of an A. So EE-lis-a. And I hate the spelling- I wish my name was spelled Elyssa or Ellyssa, it's much better. It's incredibly boring, and not so uncommon. Ever heard of Elissa.com? I wouldn't ever stick my kids with common names. Just Google Elissa and you will find so many famous Elissa's- I really hate my name.