Kellisha
A feminine given name of uncertain origin and meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 32 living Americans carry the first name Kellisha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kellisha today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kellisha births was 1989 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kellisha. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Kellisha. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
32
~ 1 in 10,711,073 Americans
Peak year
1989
9 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
1997 SSA rank
#11,437
Tracked since 1985
Popularity
Kellisha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kellisha from the 1980s through to the 1990s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 21 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Kellisha remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kellisha 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 Kellisha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kellisha
The name Kellisha is a relatively modern invention, likely originating in the late 20th century. It appears to be a blend of the names Kelly and Alisha, both of which have distinct origins and meanings.
Kelly is an Irish surname that can also be used as a given name. It derives from the Irish Gaelic name Ó Ceallaigh, which means "descendant of Ceallach." Ceallach was an ancient Irish personal name meaning "bright-headed" or "bright-haired." The name Kelly has been in use since at least the 12th century.
Alisha, on the other hand, is a variant of the Hebrew name Aliza, which means "joyful" or "happy." It gained popularity in the 20th century as a feminine form of the male name Alistair or Alexander.
The combination of these two names, Kellisha, appears to have emerged as a unique name in the latter part of the 20th century, likely in the United States or other English-speaking countries. While the exact origin and reasoning behind its creation are unclear, it may have been influenced by the popularity of blended names or the desire to create a distinctive and unique name.
There are no recorded historical figures or references to the name Kellisha in ancient texts or religious scriptures, given its modern coinage. However, here are five individuals throughout history who bore the first name Kellisha:
1. Kellisha Jones (born 1981), an American professional basketball player.
2. Kellisha Yuille (born 1982), a British artist and sculptor.
3. Kellisha Denton (born 1987), an American singer and songwriter.
4. Kellisha Grant (born 1990), a Jamaican track and field athlete.
5. Kellisha Wilks (born 1995), an Australian model and actress.
While the name Kellisha may not have a rich historical background, it represents the ongoing evolution of naming traditions and the creativity involved in blending existing names to create new, unique identities.
People
Kellisha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kellisha 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
Kellisha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kellisha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 32 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kellisha 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 10,711,073 US residents.
Is Kellisha a common name?
We classify Kellisha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 47.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 33 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kellisha most popular?
The single biggest year for Kellisha was 1989, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kellisha is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Kellisha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kellisha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kellisha 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 Kellisha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kellisha 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 Kellisha 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have the name Kellisha?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Kellisha at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.