Celisa
Of uncertain origin, perhaps related to celestial or heavenly.
Name Census estimates that about 288 living Americans carry the first name Celisa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Celisa today is around 49 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Celisa births was 1963 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Celisa. 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
288
~ 1 in 1,190,119 Americans
Peak year
1963
18 babies that year
Average age
49
years old
2003 SSA rank
#16,239
Tracked since 1957
Census
Celisa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 317 people with the first name Celisa, which placed it at #28,376 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
#28,376
National first-name rank
People counted
317
317 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
44.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Celisa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Celisa is White at 44.5%. The next largest groups are Black (35.3%) and Hispanic (14.5%). 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 Celisa 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 Celisa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White44.5% · 141
- Black or African American35.3% · 112
- Hispanic or Latino14.5% · 46
- Two or more races2.8% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 2
Popularity
Celisa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Celisa from the 1950s through to the 2000s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 99 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Celisa 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 Celisa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Celisas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Celisa
The name Celisa is believed to have its origins in Ancient Greek, derived from the word "kēlidos" which means "stain" or "blemish." It was a name given to children born with birthmarks or distinctive markings on their skin. The earliest recorded use of the name can be traced back to the 5th century BCE in the Greek city-state of Sparta.
In the 3rd century BCE, the name appears in a historical text by the Greek historian Polybius, where he mentions a woman named Celisa who was a prominent figure in the Spartan society. She was known for her bravery and leadership during a time of conflict with neighboring city-states.
The name also appears in the writings of the Roman poet Ovid, who lived in the 1st century BCE. In his work "Metamorphoses," he describes a character named Celisa, who was a nymph associated with the goddess Diana.
During the Byzantine era, around the 6th century CE, there was a renowned scholar and philosopher named Celisa of Alexandria. She was known for her contributions to the fields of mathematics and astronomy, and her works were widely studied in the academic circles of the time.
In the 12th century, a French noblewoman named Celisa de Montfort played a significant role in the Albigensian Crusade, a series of military campaigns against the Cathar heretics in southern France. She was known for her strategic acumen and her unwavering commitment to the Catholic faith.
Another notable figure with the name Celisa was Celisa Mendoza, a Spanish explorer and navigator from the 16th century. She accompanied her husband, Juan de Grijalva, on his expeditions to the coasts of Mexico and Central America, and her detailed accounts of these voyages were invaluable to future explorers and cartographers.
People
Celisa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Celisa as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Celisa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Celisa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 288 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Celisa 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 1,190,119 US residents.
Is Celisa a common name?
We classify Celisa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 324 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Celisa most popular?
The single biggest year for Celisa was 1963, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Celisa is about 49 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Celisa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 317 people with the name Celisa, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #28,376 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 Celisa 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 Celisa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Celisa appears almost entirely female. Of the 325 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 Celisa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Celisa is White at 44.5%. The next largest groups are Black (35.3%) and Hispanic (14.5%). 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 Celisa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Celisa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.5% (141 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 Celisa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Celisa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Celisa 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 Celisa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Celisa 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 Celisa 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 have the name Celisa?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Celisa on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.