Karisa
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly of Scandinavian roots.
Name Census estimates that about 2,648 living Americans carry the first name Karisa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Karisa today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Karisa births was 1992 (161 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Karisa. 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
2.6K
~ 1 in 129,439 Americans
Peak year
1992
161 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2024 SSA rank
#16,385
Tracked since 1961
Census
Karisa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,474 people with the first name Karisa, which placed it at #6,481 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
#6,481
National first-name rank
People counted
2.5K
2,474 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Karisa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Karisa is White at 69.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.2%) and Two or More Races (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 Karisa 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 Karisa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.8% · 1,727
- Hispanic or Latino13.2% · 327
- Two or more races6.2% · 153
- Black or African American5.9% · 147
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.4% · 110
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 10
Popularity
Karisa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Karisa from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 1,017 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
Karisa 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 Karisa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Karisas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 19 states and territories. California, Texas, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Karisa, while Utah, New Jersey, Iowa recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 49 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Karisa
The name Karisa is believed to have originated from the Greek language, with its roots dating back to ancient times. It is thought to be a variant or derivative of the name Carissa, which itself is derived from the Greek word "charis," meaning grace or charm.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Karisa can be found in ancient Greek texts and literature, where it was sometimes used as a feminine name. However, its usage was relatively rare during those times.
In the medieval period, the name Karisa gained some popularity among certain European cultures, particularly in regions influenced by Greek and Byzantine traditions. It was sometimes used as a baptismal name or as a name for noble or aristocratic families.
One notable historical figure who bore the name Karisa was Karisa of Byzantium, a Byzantine noblewoman who lived in the 12th century. She was known for her involvement in political affairs and her patronage of the arts.
Another early example of the name Karisa can be found in the records of the Venetian Republic, where a woman named Karisa Veneziano was mentioned as a prominent merchant and trader in the 15th century.
In the Renaissance period, the name Karisa experienced a resurgence in popularity, particularly among artistic and literary circles. One notable bearer of the name was Karisa della Rovere, an Italian painter and fresco artist who lived in the late 15th century and was renowned for her religious works.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, the name Karisa maintained a presence in various European countries, although it remained relatively uncommon. One notable figure from this period was Karisa Beaumont, a French novelist and poet who lived in the early 19th century and was known for her romantic works.
Another historical figure who bore the name Karisa was Karisa von Humboldt, a German naturalist and explorer who lived in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. She was renowned for her contributions to the study of botany and her extensive travels throughout South America.
While the name Karisa has remained relatively rare throughout history, it has continued to be used in various cultures and societies, often as a nod to its Greek origins and associations with grace and charm.
People
Karisa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Karisa as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Karisa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Karisa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,648 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Karisa 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 129,439 US residents.
Is Karisa a common name?
We classify Karisa as "Rare". It ranks above 94.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,773 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Karisa most popular?
The single biggest year for Karisa was 1992, when 161 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Karisa is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Karisa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,474 people with the name Karisa, or 0.82 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,481 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 Karisa 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 Karisa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Karisa appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,468 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Karisa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Karisa is White at 69.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.2%) and Two or More Races (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 Karisa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Karisa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.8% (1,727 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 Karisa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Karisa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Karisa 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 Karisa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Karisa 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 Karisa 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 share the name Karisa?
Find out how many people share the name Karisa on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.