Marlisa
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly a combination of Mary and Lisa.
Name Census estimates that about 725 living Americans carry the first name Marlisa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marlisa today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marlisa births was 1989 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marlisa. 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
725
~ 1 in 472,765 Americans
Peak year
1989
28 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
2021 SSA rank
#13,016
Tracked since 1957
Census
Marlisa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 742 people with the first name Marlisa, which placed it at #15,477 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
#15,477
National first-name rank
People counted
742
742 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
41.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marlisa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marlisa is White at 41.5%. The next largest groups are Black (33.7%) and Hispanic (15.4%). 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 Marlisa 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 Marlisa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White41.5% · 308
- Black or African American33.7% · 250
- Hispanic or Latino15.4% · 114
- Two or more races5.1% · 38
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.1% · 23
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 9
Popularity
Marlisa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marlisa from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 197 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Marlisa 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 Marlisa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marlisas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Marlisa
The name Marlisa is a relatively modern combination of the names Maria and Lisa, both of which have deep historical roots. Maria is derived from the ancient Hebrew name Miryam, which is believed to have originated from the Egyptian words "mer" meaning "beloved" and "iam" meaning "sea of bitterness." This name gained widespread popularity due to its association with the Virgin Mary in Christianity.
Lisa, on the other hand, has its origins in the Hebrew name Elisheva, which means "God is my oath." It is a shortened form of the name Elizabeth, which was borne by the mother of John the Baptist in the New Testament. The name Lisa gained popularity in medieval Europe, particularly in Italy and France.
While the name Marlisa itself does not have a long historical record, it is a relatively recent combination of these two older names. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Marlisa dates back to the late 20th century.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who have borne variations of the names Maria and Lisa, but not many with the specific combination of Marlisa. Here are a few examples:
1. Maria Gaetana Agnesi (1718-1799), an Italian mathematician and philosopher, considered one of the pioneers of modern calculus.
2. Lisa del Giocondo (c. 1479-1542), the subject of Leonardo da Vinci's famous painting, the Mona Lisa.
3. Maria Theresa (1717-1780), the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions and the last Holy Roman Empress.
4. Lisa Kudrow (born 1963), an American actress best known for her role as Phoebe Buffay on the popular TV sitcom "Friends."
5. Maria Callas (1923-1977), a renowned Greek-American opera singer, considered one of the most influential and renowned sopranos of the 20th century.
While the name Marlisa may not have a long and illustrious history, it is a harmonious blend of two names with deep cultural and religious significance, each with its own rich tapestry of historical references and notable figures.
People
Marlisa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marlisa 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
Marlisa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marlisa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 725 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marlisa 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 472,765 US residents.
Is Marlisa a common name?
We classify Marlisa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 796 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marlisa most popular?
The single biggest year for Marlisa was 1989, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marlisa is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marlisa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 742 people with the name Marlisa, or 0.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,477 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 Marlisa 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 Marlisa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marlisa appears almost entirely female. Of the 743 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 Marlisa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marlisa is White at 41.5%. The next largest groups are Black (33.7%) and Hispanic (15.4%). 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 Marlisa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Marlisa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 41.5% (308 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 Marlisa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marlisa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marlisa 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 Marlisa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marlisa 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 Marlisa 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 Marlisa as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Marlisa, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.