As Melissa is my own name - and I do go by Lissa all of the time- I usually end up digging up the meaning of my name and the history.Melissa means Honeybee in Greek and was the name of the Nymph who cared for Zeus in Greek mythology. - I never really liked my name before I knew the meaning.
My oldest daughter was born in 1976. We wanted to name her Lissa. I really loved the name Melissa, but I didn't want anyone calling her Mel, so I shortened it to Lissa. I had several baby name books at the time, and in one of them, it had Lissa listed as a full name and stated it was an Israeli name meaning "Rejuvenation" I liked that, So Lissa it was. Now when I look on the internet, I can't find anything to back up the claim that it is an Israeli name meaning anything. Ugh.
It came from the name Alyssa/Alissa before it came from the name Melissa.
― Anonymous User 9/14/2008
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Coincidentally, the Greek word for 'queen' is 'vasilisa' (or 'vasilissa' if you transcribe the word letter for letter), so "Lissa" could be taken as a contraction of the word and mean 'queen' also.
Melissa means Honeybee in Greek and was the name of the Nymph who cared for Zeus in Greek mythology. - I never really liked my name before I knew the meaning.