Marisha
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "bitter" or "bitterness".
Name Census estimates that about 1,457 living Americans carry the first name Marisha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marisha today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marisha births was 1992 (72 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marisha. 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 Marisha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.5K
~ 1 in 235,247 Americans
Peak year
1992
72 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2024 SSA rank
#16,761
Tracked since 1955
Census
Marisha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,480 people with the first name Marisha, which placed it at #9,390 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
#9,390
National first-name rank
People counted
1.5K
1,480 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
45.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marisha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marisha is Black at 45.8%. The next largest groups are White (31.9%) and Hispanic (8.4%). 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 Marisha 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 Marisha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American45.8% · 678
- White31.9% · 472
- Hispanic or Latino8.4% · 125
- Two or more races6.7% · 99
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.7% · 85
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 21
Popularity
Marisha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marisha from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 542 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Marisha 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 Marisha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marishas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Marisha, while Tennessee, Florida, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 34 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Marisha
The given name Marisha is derived from the Russian language and has its roots in the Slavic culture. It is a feminine form of the name Marisa, which is a variant of the name Maria. Maria, in turn, is the Latin form of the Hebrew name Miriam, meaning "bitter" or "beloved."
Marisha gained popularity in Russia and other Slavic countries during the Middle Ages, particularly among Orthodox Christian communities. The name is associated with the Virgin Mary, who holds a revered position in Orthodox Christianity. As a result, many parents chose to name their daughters Marisha as a way to honor and seek the protection of the Virgin Mary.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Marisha can be found in the 15th century, when a noble woman named Marisha Vasilievna was mentioned in the chronicles of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. In the 16th century, Marisha Stroganova, a member of the influential Stroganov family, played a significant role in the exploration and colonization of Siberia.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Marisha. One of the most famous was Marisha Poroshina (1973-), a renowned Russian actress known for her roles in films and television series. Another prominent figure was Marisha Naiditch (1918-2018), a Soviet-American sculptor and painter who gained recognition for her avant-garde art.
In the realm of literature, Marisha Ryndina (1898-1964) was a celebrated Russian poet and translator who contributed significantly to the promotion of Russian poetry in the West. Additionally, Marisha Nizovtseva (1944-2021) was a prominent Soviet and Russian actress, best known for her roles in numerous films and television productions.
Marisha Politsedko (1929-2022) was a highly acclaimed Russian ballerina and choreographer who performed with the Bolshoi Ballet and later became a renowned teacher, nurturing generations of talented dancers.
While the name Marisha has its roots in Russia and the Slavic culture, it has also gained popularity in other parts of the world, particularly among communities with Russian or Eastern European connections. However, its historical and cultural significance remains deeply rooted in its Slavic origins and the Orthodox Christian tradition.
People
Marisha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marisha as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Marisha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marisha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,457 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marisha 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 235,247 US residents.
Is Marisha a common name?
We classify Marisha as "Rare". It ranks above 92.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,547 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marisha most popular?
The single biggest year for Marisha was 1992, when 72 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marisha is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marisha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,480 people with the name Marisha, or 0.49 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,390 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 Marisha 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 Marisha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marisha appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,484 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Marisha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marisha is Black at 45.8%. The next largest groups are White (31.9%) and Hispanic (8.4%). 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 Marisha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Marisha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.8% (678 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 Marisha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marisha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marisha 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 Marisha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marisha 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 Marisha 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 Marisha?
See how many people have the name Marisha on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.