Marlisha
A feminine name perhaps of a combination of Mary and Lisa.
Name Census estimates that about 207 living Americans carry the first name Marlisha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marlisha today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marlisha births was 1988 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marlisha. 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
207
~ 1 in 1,655,818 Americans
Peak year
1988
14 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2007 SSA rank
#16,838
Tracked since 1973
Census
Marlisha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 194 people with the first name Marlisha, which placed it at #39,126 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
#39,126
National first-name rank
People counted
194
194 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
78.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marlisha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marlisha is Black at 78.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.7%) and White (5.7%). 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 Marlisha 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 Marlisha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American78.9% · 153
- Two or more races7.7% · 15
- White5.7% · 11
- Hispanic or Latino5.7% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 2
Popularity
Marlisha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marlisha from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 92 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
Marlisha 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 Marlisha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marlishas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Marlisha
Marlisha is a feminine given name believed to have originated from a combination of the names Marla and Alisha. Its roots can be traced back to the Hebrew name Miriam and the Arabic name Aliyah, both of which have their own rich histories and meanings.
The name Miriam, from which Marla is derived, is found in the Hebrew Bible and is associated with the sister of Moses and Aaron. It is thought to mean "bitter" or "rebellious" in Hebrew. On the other hand, Alisha, which is likely the source of the latter part of Marlisha, is an Arabic name that means "noble" or "exalted."
While the exact origin and meaning of Marlisha are not well-documented, it is believed to be a relatively modern name, possibly emerging in the 20th century as a combination of these two ancient names. However, there are a few noteworthy individuals throughout history who have borne this name.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Marlisha is Marlisha Marlyn Winfield, an American author and playwright who was born in 1972. She is known for her works exploring themes of identity, race, and family dynamics.
Another notable Marlisha is Marlisha Chanell Harris, an American basketball player who played professionally in the WNBA for teams like the Chicago Sky and the Phoenix Mercury in the early 2000s.
In the realm of politics, Marlisha Denise Jackson served as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives, representing the 39th district from 2011 to 2019.
Moving to the field of academia, Marlisha Rhiannon Sanders is a professor of biological sciences at Case Western Reserve University, known for her research on plant genetics and genomics.
Lastly, Marlisha Marie Lewis is an American singer and songwriter who has released several albums and singles in the contemporary R&B genre since the late 2010s.
While the name Marlisha may not have a long and storied history compared to some other names, it carries the essence of its component names, blending the meanings of "bitter" or "rebellious" and "noble" or "exalted." The individuals mentioned above have contributed to various fields, leaving their mark on the world and adding to the legacy of this unique name.
People
Marlisha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marlisha 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
Marlisha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marlisha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 207 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marlisha 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 1,655,818 US residents.
Is Marlisha a common name?
We classify Marlisha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 217 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marlisha most popular?
The single biggest year for Marlisha was 1988, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marlisha is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marlisha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 194 people with the name Marlisha, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #39,126 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 Marlisha 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 Marlisha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marlisha appears almost entirely female. Of the 196 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Marlisha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marlisha is Black at 78.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.7%) and White (5.7%). 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 Marlisha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Marlisha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.9% (153 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 Marlisha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marlisha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marlisha 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 Marlisha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marlisha 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 Marlisha 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 are called Marlisha?
See how many people share the name Marlisha on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.