Lyssa
A feminine name derived from the Greek word "lyssa," meaning madness or frenzy.
Name Census estimates that about 1,406 living Americans carry the first name Lyssa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lyssa today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lyssa births was 1992 (80 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lyssa. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Lyssa with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 243,780 Americans
Peak year
1992
80 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,893
Tracked since 1947
Census
Lyssa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,552 people with the first name Lyssa, which placed it at #9,107 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
#9,107
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,552 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lyssa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lyssa is White at 73.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.4%) and Black (4.9%). 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 Lyssa 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 Lyssa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.1% · 1,134
- Hispanic or Latino12.4% · 192
- Black or African American4.9% · 76
- Two or more races4.7% · 73
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.6% · 56
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 21
Popularity
Lyssa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lyssa from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 415 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
Lyssa 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 Lyssa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lyssas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. Texas, California, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Lyssa, while Ohio, New York, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 23 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lyssa
The name Lyssa originates from ancient Greek mythology, where it was the name of the Greek goddess of mad rage, frenzy, and rabies. The name is derived from the Greek word "lyssa," meaning "frenzy" or "madness." It is believed to have been used as a name since ancient times, although its earliest recorded use is uncertain.
In Greek mythology, Lyssa was often associated with the god Ares, the god of war, and was believed to be the personification of the madness and frenzy that could overcome warriors in battle. She was also sometimes depicted as a companion to the Erinyes, the goddesses of vengeance.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Lyssa appears in the works of the ancient Greek poet Hesiod, who lived around the 8th century BCE. In his work "Theogony," Hesiod mentions Lyssa as one of the children of the goddess Nyx (Night).
Throughout history, the name Lyssa has been borne by various notable individuals. One of the earliest recorded was Lyssa of Athens, a 4th century BCE Greek poetess and philosopher who was a contemporary of Plato. Little is known about her life, but some of her works were praised by ancient writers.
In the Middle Ages, Lyssa was the name of a 12th-century Benedictine abbess who served as the abbess of the Convent of St. Mary in Soissons, France. She was known for her piety and leadership of the convent.
In more recent times, Lyssa Arida (born 1974) is a Greek-American actress and model who has appeared in various television shows and films, such as "Star Trek: Enterprise" and "The Princess Diaries 2."
Another notable figure was Lyssa Terkeurst (born 1969), an American author and public speaker who has written several books on Christian living and spiritual growth.
Lyssa Brittain-Skyler (born 1985) is an American actress and singer, best known for her role as Libby on the television series "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch."
While the name Lyssa has its roots in ancient Greek mythology and has been borne by various notable individuals throughout history, it is not a particularly common name in modern times. However, its unique and intriguing origin and meaning have ensured that it remains a distinctive and interesting choice for parents seeking a name with a rich historical background.
People
Lyssa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lyssa as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Lyssa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lyssa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,406 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lyssa 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 243,780 US residents.
Is Lyssa a common name?
We classify Lyssa as "Rare". It ranks above 92.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,492 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lyssa most popular?
The single biggest year for Lyssa was 1992, when 80 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lyssa 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 Lyssa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,552 people with the name Lyssa, or 0.51 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,107 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 Lyssa 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 Lyssa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lyssa appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,556 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 Lyssa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lyssa is White at 73.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.4%) and Black (4.9%). 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 Lyssa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lyssa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.1% (1,134 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 Lyssa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lyssa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lyssa 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 Lyssa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lyssa 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 Lyssa 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 common is the name Lyssa?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.