Marlissa
A feminine name possibly meaning "combination of Mary and Lisa".
Name Census estimates that about 396 living Americans carry the first name Marlissa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marlissa today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marlissa births was 1992 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marlissa. 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
396
~ 1 in 865,541 Americans
Peak year
1992
25 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2012 SSA rank
#16,196
Tracked since 1958
Census
Marlissa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 388 people with the first name Marlissa, which placed it at #24,718 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
#24,718
National first-name rank
People counted
388
388 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
36.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marlissa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marlissa is White at 36.9%. The next largest groups are Black (27.6%) and Hispanic (25.5%). 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 Marlissa 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 Marlissa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White36.9% · 143
- Black or African American27.6% · 107
- Hispanic or Latino25.5% · 99
- American Indian and Alaska Native5.2% · 20
- Two or more races3.9% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 4
Popularity
Marlissa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marlissa from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 114 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
Marlissa 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 Marlissa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marlissas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Marlissa
The name Marlissa has its origins in the ancient Germanic languages, specifically from a combination of the Old German words "marah" meaning "mare" and "lissa" meaning "promise" or "vow." This suggests the name was originally a symbolic representation of a promise or vow made to the goddess associated with horses and mares.
Historically, the name first appeared in written records around the 8th century CE, primarily in regions of modern-day Germany and the Netherlands. It was a popular name among the nobility and aristocracy of the time, often given to daughters as a representation of their family's status and connection to equestrian traditions.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Marlissa was a noblewoman from the Frankish kingdom, Marlissa of Austrasia, who lived in the late 7th century. She was known for her patronage of the arts and her influential role in the court of King Dagobert II.
In the 11th century, a Benedictine abbess named Marlissa of Remiremont was a prominent figure in the religious and scholarly circles of the Holy Roman Empire. She was renowned for her leadership of the Abbey of Remiremont and her contributions to the preservation of ancient texts.
During the Renaissance period, Marlissa Borgia, a member of the infamous Borgia family, made a name for herself as a skilled diplomat and negotiator. She played a crucial role in facilitating alliances and treaties between the Papal States and other European powers in the 15th century.
In the 17th century, Marlissa von Stein was a German noblewoman and philanthropist who dedicated her life to establishing schools and educational institutions for underprivileged children. Her legacy continues to inspire efforts towards promoting education and social welfare.
Another notable figure was Marlissa Delacroix, a French painter and sculptor from the 19th century. She was known for her striking portraits and her contributions to the Realist movement in art. Her works are displayed in prestigious museums around the world.
While the name Marlissa has waxed and waned in popularity over the centuries, it has maintained a certain historical significance and connection to its Germanic roots, representing a promise or vow that has echoed through generations.
People
Marlissa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marlissa 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
Marlissa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marlissa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 396 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marlissa 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 865,541 US residents.
Is Marlissa a common name?
We classify Marlissa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 420 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marlissa most popular?
The single biggest year for Marlissa was 1992, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marlissa is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marlissa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 388 people with the name Marlissa, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,718 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 Marlissa 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 Marlissa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marlissa appears almost entirely female. Of the 396 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 Marlissa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marlissa is White at 36.9%. The next largest groups are Black (27.6%) and Hispanic (25.5%). 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 Marlissa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Marlissa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 36.9% (143 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 Marlissa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marlissa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marlissa 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 Marlissa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marlissa 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 Marlissa 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 Marlissa as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.