According to Irish legend, Saint Brendan the Voyager was the first European to touch American soil, and his name has been established here for decades, peaking in the late 1990s.

Alison has been long popular in Scotland and widely used here since the fifties. This more feminine medieval elaboration of Alice had long surpassed the original in popularity, but now sounds a tad dated in the U.S., with Alice having leapfrogged back over Alison, Allison, Alicia and other variations.