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Is ありす, or a name pronounced the same as "ありす", a traditional feminine given
name? (If I have to define traditional, then pre-dating the end of the [Sakoku
policy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakoku))

I've heard about parents naming their girls ありす because they like the foreign
name "[Alice](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_%28given_name%29)", but does
the name actually pre-date the event of Japanese knowing the word "Alice"?
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2013-12-27T03:52:09.623
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question
loanwords names
Is ありす a traditional girl's name?
It's not a traditional name. [Originates from English and
French.](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A2%E3%83%AA%E3%82%B9) Contrast
this with [Chisato 千里](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8D%83%E9%87%8C) for
example, which is Japanese. To say Alice ありす is Japanese would be similar to
saying the croissant is Japanese.
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2014-01-04T11:15:45.297
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answer
There seems to be prior occurrence of ありす as part of a traditional Japanese
surname, amongst [other
names](http://coreblog.org/naming/girls/p_3042308a3059.html). ありす can be the
common Japanese female given name 有栖 (Arisu), which most likely comes is
derived from Japanese Imperial branch family surname surname
[有栖川](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arisugawa-no-miya) (Arisugawa).

As a somewhat ironic side note, the English name
[Alice](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_%28given_name%29), a name derived
from Old French and [Germanic](http://www.behindthename.com/name/adelaide),
means "noble/nobility."
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2015-01-09T17:24:13.597
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answer