Morrisa
A variant of Morris, of Old French origin meaning "dark".
Name Census estimates that about 198 living Americans carry the first name Morrisa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Morrisa today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Morrisa births was 1990 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Morrisa. 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
198
~ 1 in 1,731,083 Americans
Peak year
1990
16 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2012 SSA rank
#18,697
Tracked since 1960
Census
Morrisa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 242 people with the first name Morrisa, which placed it at #33,953 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
#33,953
National first-name rank
People counted
242
242 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
50.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Morrisa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Morrisa is White at 50.4%. The next largest groups are Black (31.8%) and Hispanic (8.7%). 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 Morrisa 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 Morrisa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White50.4% · 122
- Black or African American31.8% · 77
- Hispanic or Latino8.7% · 21
- Two or more races7.4% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 2
Popularity
Morrisa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Morrisa from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 78 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
Morrisa 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 Morrisa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Morrisa
The name Morrisa has its origins in the Latin language, deriving from the word "maurus," which meant "dark-skinned" or "black." This name was initially used by the ancient Romans to refer to the Moors, a group of people from North Africa who settled in parts of the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages.
During the medieval period, the name Morrisa gained popularity in various regions of Europe, particularly in Spain and Portugal, where Moorish influence was significant. It was often associated with individuals of Moorish descent or those who had connections to the Moorish culture.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Morrisa can be found in the 12th century, when it was mentioned in a historical document from the Kingdom of Aragon. This record referred to a woman named Morrisa de Valencia, who was a prominent figure in the city of Valencia during that time.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Morrisa. One such person was Morrisa al-Qarawiyya, a renowned female scholar and poet who lived in the 11th century in Al-Andalus (modern-day Spain and Portugal). She was known for her contributions to Arabic literature and her expertise in various fields, including mathematics and astronomy.
In the 15th century, Morrisa de Córdoba was a Spanish painter and illuminator who gained recognition for her intricate and beautifully illustrated manuscripts. Her works were highly sought after by the nobility and religious institutions of the time.
Another significant figure was Morrisa ibn Rushd, a 12th-century philosopher and physician from Córdoba, who was influential in reviving the study of Aristotelian philosophy in the Western world. His writings had a profound impact on medieval Christian and Islamic thought.
During the Renaissance period, Morrisa de Medici was an Italian noblewoman and patron of the arts, known for her support and patronage of artists, writers, and intellectuals in Florence. She played a crucial role in the cultural and artistic renaissance of the city.
It is worth noting that while the name Morrisa has its roots in Latin and was prevalent in certain regions of Europe, it has also been adopted and adapted in other cultures and languages over time, reflecting the diverse histories and migrations of different peoples.
People
Morrisa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Morrisa 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
Morrisa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Morrisa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 198 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Morrisa 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 1,731,083 US residents.
Is Morrisa a common name?
We classify Morrisa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 207 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Morrisa most popular?
The single biggest year for Morrisa was 1990, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Morrisa is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Morrisa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 242 people with the name Morrisa, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #33,953 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 Morrisa 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 Morrisa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Morrisa leans strongly female. 240 people counted with this name were female (98.0%), compared with 5 male bearers (2.0%). 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 Morrisa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Morrisa is White at 50.4%. The next largest groups are Black (31.8%) and Hispanic (8.7%). 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 Morrisa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Morrisa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.4% (122 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 Morrisa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Morrisa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Morrisa 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 Morrisa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Morrisa 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 Morrisa 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 Morrisa?
Find out how many people have the name Morrisa on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.