Arissa
A feminine name of unknown origin, possibly derived from "Aras".
Name Census estimates that about 2,412 living Americans carry the first name Arissa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Arissa today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Arissa births was 2003 (221 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Arissa. 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.
People living today
2.4K
~ 1 in 142,104 Americans
Peak year
2003
221 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,661
Tracked since 1970
Popularity
Arissa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Arissa from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,083 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Arissa 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 Arissa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Arissas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 19 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Arissa, while Wisconsin, Virginia, Tennessee recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 56 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Arissa
The given name Arissa is believed to have its origins in the Arabic language. The name is a variant of the Arabic name Arisa, which means "bride" or "newly married woman." This name gained popularity in the Middle East and North Africa, particularly in regions where Arabic was the predominant language.
Historically, the name Arissa can be traced back to ancient Arabic literature and poetry, where it was often used as a poetic term to describe a beautiful and virtuous woman. However, there are no definitive records of the name appearing in religious scriptures or historical texts from that era.
The earliest recorded use of the name Arissa dates back to the 9th century CE, when it was mentioned in an Arabic manuscript chronicling the lives of notable women in the region. One of the earliest known individuals to bear this name was Arissa al-Qurashiyya, a renowned poetess and scholar who lived in Baghdad during the Abbasid Caliphate (750-1258 CE).
Throughout history, several notable figures have carried the name Arissa. In the 12th century, Arissa al-Hamdaniyya was a influential Muslim scholar and philosopher from modern-day Syria. During the 14th century, Arissa al-Andalusiyya was a celebrated poet and musician from the Iberian Peninsula (modern-day Spain and Portugal).
In more recent times, Arissa Nimira Putri was an Indonesian actress and singer who gained popularity in the 1970s and 1980s. Arissa Larasati is a contemporary Indonesian model and television personality born in 1989.
While the name Arissa has Arabic roots, it has also gained recognition and usage in various cultures and regions around the world, particularly in areas with significant Muslim populations or influence from Arabic culture.
People
Arissa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Arissa 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
Arissa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Arissa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,412 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Arissa 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 142,104 US residents.
Is Arissa a common name?
We classify Arissa as "Rare". It ranks above 94.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,458 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Arissa most popular?
The single biggest year for Arissa was 2003, when 221 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Arissa is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Arissa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Arissa 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.
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.