Melisa
Greek name meaning "honey bee" or "a type of lemon balm".
Name Census estimates that about 17,450 living Americans carry the first name Melisa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Melisa today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Melisa births was 1979 (661 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Melisa. 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 Melisa with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
17K
~ 1 in 19,642 Americans
Peak year
1979
661 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
1977 SSA rank
#3,064
Tracked since 1948
Census
Melisa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 18,912 people with the first name Melisa, which placed it at #1,658 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
#1,658
National first-name rank
People counted
19K
18,912 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
6.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
54.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Melisa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Melisa is White at 54.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (33.7%) and Black (5.6%). 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 Melisa 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 Melisa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White54.7% · 10,340
- Hispanic or Latino33.7% · 6,368
- Black or African American5.6% · 1,053
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 536
- Two or more races2.7% · 519
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 96
Gender
Gender distribution for Melisa
Out of the 19,064 babies given the name Melisa since 1880, 99.9% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Melisa as a male name
- Ranked #6,499 in 1977
- 5 male births in 1977
- Peak: 1972 (5 births)
Melisa as a female name
- Ranked #3,064 in 2024
- 53 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1979 (661 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Melisa appears almost entirely female. Of the 18,912 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Melisa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Melisa from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 5,900 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Melisa 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 Melisa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Melisas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 46 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Melisa, while Wyoming, North Dakota, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 346 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Melisa
The name Melisa has its roots in the Greek language and can be traced back to ancient times. It is derived from the Greek word "melissa," which means "honey bee." This name is closely associated with the Greek goddess of honey, Melissa, who was a nymph and companion to the goddess Artemis.
One of the earliest known references to the name Melisa can be found in Greek mythology. According to legend, Melissa was a nymph who discovered and taught the art of beekeeping and honey production to humans. She was revered for her wisdom and knowledge, and her name became synonymous with sweetness and industry.
The name Melisa gained popularity during the Byzantine era, particularly among Greek-speaking communities. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this name was Melisa of Constantinople (c. 1050-1120), a Byzantine noblewoman and patron of the arts, known for her patronage of the Church of Christ Pantokrator.
In the Middle Ages, the name Melisa was also used in various European regions, albeit with slight variations in spelling, such as Melissa or Melissa. One notable figure from this period was Melissa von Kaltenborn (c. 1290-1355), a German abbess and religious leader who played a significant role in the spiritual life of her community.
During the Renaissance, the name Melisa gained popularity across Europe, particularly in Italy and Spain. One of the most famous individuals with this name from this era was Melisa Ragazzoni (1529-1600), an Italian painter and engraver known for her religious works and portraits.
In the 18th century, the name Melisa was used in various parts of Europe, including France and England. One notable figure from this period was Melisa Charlewood (1705-1785), an English philanthropist and advocate for education who established several schools for underprivileged children.
As the name Melisa spread across different cultures and regions, it underwent various spellings and adaptations, reflecting local linguistic and cultural influences. However, its connection to the Greek concept of sweetness, industry, and wisdom has remained a consistent theme throughout its history.
People
Melisa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Melisa 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
Melisa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Melisa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 17,450 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Melisa 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 19,642 US residents.
Is Melisa a common name?
We classify Melisa as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 19,064 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Melisa most popular?
The single biggest year for Melisa was 1979, when 661 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Melisa is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Melisa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 18,912 people with the name Melisa, or 6.26 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,658 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 Melisa 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 Melisa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Melisa appears almost entirely female. Of the 18,912 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 Melisa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Melisa is White at 54.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (33.7%) and Black (5.6%). 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 Melisa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Melisa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.7% (10,340 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 Melisa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Melisa a female name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Melisa 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 Melisa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Melisa 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 Melisa 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 Melisa as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Melisa, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.