Delissa
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "bee worker" or "industrious".
Name Census estimates that about 367 living Americans carry the first name Delissa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Delissa today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Delissa births was 1988 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Delissa. 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
367
~ 1 in 933,936 Americans
Peak year
1988
23 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
2013 SSA rank
#15,101
Tracked since 1953
Census
Delissa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 391 people with the first name Delissa, which placed it at #24,576 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
#24,576
National first-name rank
People counted
391
391 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
40.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Delissa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Delissa is Black at 40.2%. The next largest groups are White (33.0%) and Hispanic (20.5%). 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 Delissa 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 Delissa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American40.2% · 157
- White33.0% · 129
- Hispanic or Latino20.5% · 80
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.6% · 10
- Two or more races2.3% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 6
Popularity
Delissa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Delissa from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 109 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Delissa 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 Delissa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Delissas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Delissa
The name Delissa has its origins in ancient Greece, stemming from the Greek word "delissos," which means "delicate" or "slender." It was a relatively uncommon name during classical times but gained some popularity in certain regions of the Greek world.
One of the earliest known references to the name Delissa can be found in a collection of poetry from the 5th century BCE, where a minor character bears this moniker. However, it is worth noting that the spelling and pronunciation may have varied slightly from the modern form.
During the Byzantine era, the name appears to have been adopted by a few individuals, although records from this period are scarce. One noteworthy figure was Delissa of Antioch, a Christian martyr who lived in the 3rd century CE and was executed for her unwavering faith.
In the medieval period, the name Delissa resurfaced in parts of Europe, particularly in regions with strong Greek cultural influences. One notable bearer was Delissa de Montfort, a French noblewoman born in 1225, who played a role in the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathars in southern France.
As the Renaissance dawned, the name gained modest popularity in certain artistic and scholarly circles, perhaps due to its classical roots. Delissa Boccaccio, an Italian poet and writer born in 1467, was a contemporary of the renowned author Giovanni Boccaccio and contributed to the literary scene of her time.
Another significant figure was Delissa Ravagli, a 16th-century Italian painter born in 1556, who was known for her vivid depictions of religious subjects and her contributions to the Mannerist art movement.
In more recent centuries, the name Delissa has remained relatively uncommon but has been used sporadically across various cultures and regions. Delissa Joseph, a notable British actress born in 1835, gained acclaim for her performances on the London stage during the Victorian era.
While the name Delissa may not be as widely used today as it once was, its rich history and Greek origins serve as a testament to its enduring charm and the lasting influence of classical culture on modern naming traditions.
People
Delissa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Delissa as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Delissa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Delissa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 367 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Delissa 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 933,936 US residents.
Is Delissa a common name?
We classify Delissa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 401 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Delissa most popular?
The single biggest year for Delissa was 1988, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Delissa is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Delissa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 391 people with the name Delissa, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,576 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 Delissa 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 Delissa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Delissa leans strongly female. 389 people counted with this name were female (98.7%), compared with 5 male bearers (1.3%). 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 Delissa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Delissa is Black at 40.2%. The next largest groups are White (33.0%) and Hispanic (20.5%). 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 Delissa most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Delissa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 40.2% (157 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 Delissa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Delissa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Delissa 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 Delissa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Delissa 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 Delissa 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 Americans are named Delissa?
Want to know how many people have the name Delissa? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.