Jelisa
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly derived from French or Italian.
Name Census estimates that about 1,059 living Americans carry the first name Jelisa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jelisa today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jelisa births was 1989 (145 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jelisa. 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
1.1K
~ 1 in 323,658 Americans
Peak year
1989
145 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2024 SSA rank
#16,269
Tracked since 1980
Census
Jelisa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 925 people with the first name Jelisa, which placed it at #13,154 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
#13,154
National first-name rank
People counted
925
925 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
68.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jelisa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jelisa is Black at 68.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.7%) and White (6.2%). 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 Jelisa 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 Jelisa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American68.4% · 633
- Hispanic or Latino18.7% · 173
- White6.2% · 57
- Two or more races4.2% · 39
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 7
Popularity
Jelisa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jelisa from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 602 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
Jelisa 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 Jelisa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jelisas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 18 states and territories. Illinois, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Jelisa, while Ohio, Connecticut, Arkansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 28 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jelisa
The name Jelisa has its roots in the ancient Slavic language, with origins dating back to the 7th century CE. It is believed to be derived from the Proto-Slavic word "jeliza," which means "alder tree" or "evergreen." This name was commonly used among the Slavic tribes that inhabited the regions of present-day Eastern Europe and the Balkans.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jelisa can be found in the Novgorod Codex, a 13th-century Slavic manuscript that contains a collection of legal texts and chronicles. In this document, Jelisa is mentioned as the name of a woman who was involved in a land dispute in the region of Novgorod.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Jelisa. One of the most famous was Jelisa of Kesan, a 14th-century Serbian noblewoman and landowner who played a significant role in the political affairs of the Kingdom of Serbia during the reign of King Stefan Dušan.
Another prominent figure was Jelisa Barzokovic, a 16th-century Montenegrin warrior and military leader who fought against the Ottoman Empire during the Montenegrin-Ottoman Wars. She was renowned for her bravery and tactical skills in battle.
In the realm of literature, Jelisa Obrenovic was a 19th-century Serbian writer and poet who contributed to the development of Serbian Romanticism. Her works often explored themes of love, nature, and national identity.
The name Jelisa also has religious connections, as evidenced by the existence of Saint Jelisa, a 9th-century Byzantine nun and martyr who was canonized by the Eastern Orthodox Church for her unwavering faith and dedication to her beliefs.
Lastly, Jelisa Popovic, a 20th-century Serbian artist and painter, gained recognition for her vibrant and expressive works that captured the essence of her homeland's landscapes and cultural traditions.
While the name Jelisa may have fallen out of widespread use in modern times, its rich historical and cultural significance across various Slavic regions serves as a testament to its enduring legacy.
People
Jelisa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jelisa as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Jelisa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jelisa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,059 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jelisa 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 323,658 US residents.
Is Jelisa a common name?
We classify Jelisa as "Rare". It ranks above 90.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,098 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jelisa most popular?
The single biggest year for Jelisa was 1989, when 145 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jelisa is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jelisa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 925 people with the name Jelisa, or 0.31 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,154 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 Jelisa 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 Jelisa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jelisa appears almost entirely female. Of the 922 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 Jelisa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jelisa is Black at 68.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.7%) and White (6.2%). 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 Jelisa most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jelisa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.4% (633 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 Jelisa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jelisa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jelisa 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 Jelisa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jelisa 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 Jelisa 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 Jelisa?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.