Parissa
A feminine name of Persian origin meaning "fairy-like" or "pixie-esque".
Name Census estimates that about 89 living Americans carry the first name Parissa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Parissa today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Parissa births was 1988 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Parissa. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Parissa. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
89
~ 1 in 3,851,172 Americans
Peak year
1988
8 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2015 SSA rank
#18,472
Tracked since 1986
Popularity
Parissa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Parissa from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 39 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Parissa remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Parissa 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 Parissa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Parissas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Parissa
The name Parissa is of Persian origin, originating from the ancient Iranian language of Farsi. It is believed to have derived from the word "Pari," which means a fairy or celestial being in Persian mythology. The earliest known usage of the name dates back to the 6th century BCE, during the Achaemenid Empire in ancient Persia.
Parissa was a common name among the nobility and upper classes of Persian society. It is mentioned in several ancient Persian texts, including the Shahnameh, the national epic of Iran written by the renowned poet Ferdowsi in the late 10th century CE. In this epic, Parissa is described as a beautiful and virtuous princess.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Parissa was Parissa, the daughter of the Sassanid king Khosrau I, who ruled Persia from 531 to 579 CE. She was renowned for her beauty and intelligence, and her name became a symbol of grace and elegance among the Persian aristocracy.
During the Islamic Golden Age, which spanned from the 8th to the 13th century CE, the name Parissa continued to be popular among Persian scholars and poets. One notable figure was Parissa Ganjavi, a 12th-century Persian poet and mystic from the city of Ganja (now in present-day Azerbaijan). Her poetry explored themes of love, spirituality, and the human condition.
In the 16th century, Parissa was the name of a renowned Persian calligrapher and artist from the city of Shiraz. Her intricate calligraphic works and illustrations adorned many Persian manuscripts and books of the time, and she is considered one of the most accomplished female artists of the Safavid dynasty.
Another historical figure with the name Parissa was Parissa Khanum, a 19th-century Iranian princess and feminist activist. She was a strong advocate for women's education and rights, and played a significant role in establishing the first girls' school in Tehran during the Qajar dynasty.
Throughout history, the name Parissa has been associated with beauty, grace, and artistic expression, reflecting its roots in Persian mythology and culture. While its popularity may have waxed and waned over time, it remains a beloved name in the Persian-speaking world and among those with Iranian heritage.
People
Parissa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Parissa as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with P
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Parissa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Parissa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 89 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Parissa 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 3,851,172 US residents.
Is Parissa a common name?
We classify Parissa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 62.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 92 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Parissa most popular?
The single biggest year for Parissa was 1988, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Parissa is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Parissa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Parissa 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.
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.