Claryssa
Feminine name of Greek derivation signifying "bright" or "illustrious".
Name Census estimates that about 215 living Americans carry the first name Claryssa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Claryssa today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Claryssa births was 2000 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Claryssa. 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
215
~ 1 in 1,594,206 Americans
Peak year
2000
18 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2017 SSA rank
#11,888
Tracked since 1986
Popularity
Claryssa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Claryssa from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 92 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Claryssa remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Claryssa 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 Claryssa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Claryssas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Claryssa
The name Claryssa is a feminine variant of the name Clarissa, which is derived from the Latin name Clarissa or Claritia. These Latin names are believed to be derived from the Roman family name Clarus, meaning "bright" or "clear." The name may also be related to the Latin word "clarus," meaning "brilliant" or "illustrious."
The name Clarissa has been in use since ancient Roman times, and it gained popularity during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance period. It was particularly favored among the aristocracy and upper classes in Europe, where it was seen as a name with a refined and elegant connotation.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Clarissa can be found in the 4th century, when Saint Clarissa, also known as Saint Clare of Assisi (1194-1253), founded the Order of Poor Ladies, later known as the Poor Clares. Saint Clarissa was a close friend of Saint Francis of Assisi and is revered as a patron saint of television, which is believed to be because her name means "clear vision."
Another notable historical figure with the name Clarissa was Clarissa Harlowe, the protagonist of the 18th-century novel "Clarissa" by Samuel Richardson. The novel, published in 1748, is considered one of the earliest and most influential works of the novel form in English literature.
In the 19th century, the name Clarissa was popular among the English aristocracy. One famous bearer of the name was Clarissa Eden (1920-2021), a British aristocrat and the niece of Prime Minister Winston Churchill. She was also an author and a prominent figure in British society.
Another notable Clarissa was Clarissa Pinkola Estés (born 1945), an American poet, psychoanalyst, and post-trauma specialist. She is best known for her book "Women Who Run With the Wolves," which explores the role of myths and stories in understanding the feminine psyche.
Throughout history, the name Claryssa has been less common than its original form, Clarissa. However, it has been used as a variant spelling, particularly in English-speaking countries. Some notable bearers of the name Claryssa include Claryssa Catalician, an American actress known for her roles in television shows like "The X-Files" and "Charmed," and Claryssa Fenn, a Canadian model and actress.
People
Claryssa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Claryssa 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
Claryssa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Claryssa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 215 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Claryssa 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 1,594,206 US residents.
Is Claryssa a common name?
We classify Claryssa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 220 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Claryssa most popular?
The single biggest year for Claryssa was 2000, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Claryssa is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Claryssa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Claryssa 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.