Anissa
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "close friend" or "friendly".
Name Census estimates that about 11,736 living Americans carry the first name Anissa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Anissa today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Anissa births was 1971 (729 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Anissa. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Anissa with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
12K
~ 1 in 29,205 Americans
Peak year
1971
729 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
1971 SSA rank
#2,655
Tracked since 1966
Census
Anissa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 10,362 people with the first name Anissa, which placed it at #2,401 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#2,401
National first-name rank
People counted
10K
10,362 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
34.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Anissa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Anissa is Hispanic at 34.5%. The next largest groups are White (32.9%) and Black (23.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Anissa described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Anissa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino34.5% · 3,573
- White32.9% · 3,404
- Black or African American23.6% · 2,441
- Two or more races4.8% · 496
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.2% · 327
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 121
Gender
Gender distribution for Anissa
Out of the 12,449 babies given the name Anissa since 1880, 100.0% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Anissa as a male name
- Ranked #4,951 in 1971
- 5 male births in 1971
- Peak: 1971 (5 births)
Anissa as a female name
- Ranked #2,655 in 2024
- 65 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1971 (724 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Anissa appears almost entirely female. Of the 10,369 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Anissa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Anissa from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 3,416 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Anissa by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Anissa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Anissas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 40 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Anissa, while Delaware, Utah, Oregon recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 245 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Anissa
The name Anissa has its roots in the Arabic language, originating from the word "Anisah," which means "friendly" or "sociable." It is believed to have been derived from the Arabic word "uns," meaning "companionship" or "intimacy." The name has been in use for centuries, with its earliest recorded instances dating back to the medieval period in the Arab world.
One of the earliest known references to the name Anissa can be found in classical Arabic literature, particularly in the works of renowned poets and writers from the 8th to the 13th centuries. These literary works often featured characters or individuals bearing the name Anissa, reflecting the cultural significance and popularity of the name during that era.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Anissa. One of the earliest recorded instances is Anissa al-Qurtubiyya (977-1025), a renowned Andalusian poet and scholar from Cordoba, Spain. She was celebrated for her contributions to Arabic literature and her expertise in various fields, including poetry, linguistics, and calligraphy.
Another prominent figure with the name Anissa was Anissa Helou (born 1952), a Lebanese-British chef, food writer, and cookbook author. She has published several acclaimed books on Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines, showcasing her passion for culinary traditions and cultural heritage.
In the realm of art and fashion, Anissa Meddeb (1958-2022) was a Tunisian-French artist and fashion designer known for her innovative and avant-garde creations. Her works often explored themes of identity, culture, and femininity, and she was celebrated for her unique approach to fashion and artistic expression.
The name Anissa has also been associated with notable figures in academia and literature. Anissa Talahite-Moodley (born 1963) is a South African academic and author, renowned for her contributions to the fields of African literature and postcolonial studies. Her works have shed light on the experiences of marginalized communities and the intersections of race, gender, and culture.
Another influential figure bearing the name Anissa is Anissa Bouaidar (born 1982), a Moroccan-French writer and activist. Her literary works and advocacy efforts have focused on promoting women's rights, challenging gender stereotypes, and raising awareness about issues faced by marginalized communities in North Africa and Europe.
While these are just a few examples, the name Anissa has been carried by individuals from diverse backgrounds and eras, each leaving their mark on various fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of human history and culture.
People
Anissa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Anissa as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Anissa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Anissa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11,736 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Anissa going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 29,205 US residents.
Is Anissa a common name?
We classify Anissa as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12,449 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Anissa most popular?
The single biggest year for Anissa was 1971, when 729 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Anissa is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Anissa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 10,362 people with the name Anissa, or 3.43 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,401 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Anissa in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Anissa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Anissa appears almost entirely female. Of the 10,369 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Anissa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Anissa is Hispanic at 34.5%. The next largest groups are White (32.9%) and Black (23.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Anissa most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Anissa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 34.5% (3,573 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Anissa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Anissa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Anissa in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Anissa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Anissa in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Anissa can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Anissa?
Want to know how many people have the name Anissa? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.