Kharissa
A feminine name derived from Arabic meaning "exquisite" or "beautiful".
Name Census estimates that about 61 living Americans carry the first name Kharissa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kharissa today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kharissa births was 1993 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kharissa. 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 Kharissa. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
61
~ 1 in 5,618,924 Americans
Peak year
1993
7 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2020 SSA rank
#16,355
Tracked since 1981
Popularity
Kharissa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kharissa 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 19 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
Kharissa 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 Kharissa 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 Kharissa
The given name Kharissa is believed to have its origins in the Arabic language. It is a variation of the more common name Khadija, which means "the newborn" or "the premature". The name is thought to have been derived from the Arabic root word "khadara", meaning "to be fresh or green".
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Khadija, from which Kharissa is derived, is found in Islamic history. Khadija was the name of the first wife of the Prophet Muhammad, who lived in the 6th century CE. She was a wealthy businesswoman and was the first person to convert to Islam.
The name Kharissa itself is not as widely documented in ancient texts or historical records, as it is a more modern variation of the original name. However, some early examples of the name can be found in certain regions of the Middle East and North Africa, where it was used as an alternative spelling or pronunciation.
One of the earliest known individuals to bear the name Kharissa was Kharissa bint Al-Husayn, a 12th-century Arab poet and scholar from present-day Iraq. She was renowned for her contributions to Arabic literature and her expertise in various fields, including grammar and rhetoric.
Another notable figure with the name Kharissa was Kharissa al-Andalusiyya, a 13th-century Andalusian poet and writer from present-day Spain. She was celebrated for her poetic works and her mastery of the Arabic language during the Golden Age of Islamic civilization in Iberia.
In the 19th century, Kharissa Al-Baghdadi was a prominent Iraqi musician and composer who played a significant role in preserving and popularizing traditional Arabic music. Her compositions and performances were widely acclaimed and influenced generations of musicians.
Kharissa Daoud, born in 1925, was a pioneering Egyptian actress and singer who helped pave the way for women in the entertainment industry in the Middle East. She appeared in numerous films and television shows and was considered a cultural icon in her time.
In more recent history, Kharissa Farraj, born in 1963, is a renowned Palestinian-American artist and sculptor. Her works have been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world, and she is recognized for her unique style and exploration of cultural identity through her art.
People
Kharissa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kharissa 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
Kharissa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kharissa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 61 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kharissa 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 5,618,924 US residents.
Is Kharissa a common name?
We classify Kharissa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 57.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 63 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kharissa most popular?
The single biggest year for Kharissa was 1993, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kharissa is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Kharissa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kharissa 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.