A modern spelling of Bliss, from the English word for joy or happiness.
Blyss is a phonetic respelling of Bliss, an Old English word and name meaning profound happiness, spiritual joy, or perfect contentment. The root traces back through Middle English "blis" to Old English "bliss" or "bliths," related to the adjective "blithe" — cheerful, carefree, full of light. As a given name, Bliss belongs to a long English tradition of virtue names, alongside Faith, Hope, Grace, and Joy, names that express the parents' aspiration for their child's inner life.
Blythe, the closely related adjective form, has its own distinguished history as both surname and given name. The English actress Blythe Danner carried it into the cultural consciousness in the latter twentieth century, and it has appeared in literature as a character name suggesting airiness and charm. The name Bliss itself appears in religious poetry — it is a word closely associated with mystical states in Christian devotional writing, from Julian of Norwich to William Blake, who wrote memorably of "the lineaments of gratified desire" as a form of bliss.
The double-s spelling of Blyss gives the name a more contemporary, stylized appearance, emphasizing the hiss of the final sound and lending it a slight visual drama. It sits comfortably among modern names that take inherited vocabulary words and reframe them with fresh orthography — names that say both "this means something" and "this is ours." For parents drawn to names rooted in positive emotion, Blyss carries its meaning lightly and beautifully, a name that announces itself as a small declaration of joy.