Rissa
A feminine name perhaps related to Russian or Greek origin, meaning uncertain.
Name Census estimates that about 285 living Americans carry the first name Rissa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rissa today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rissa births was 2002 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rissa. 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
285
~ 1 in 1,202,647 Americans
Peak year
2002
12 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2024 SSA rank
#14,872
Tracked since 1947
Census
Rissa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 518 people with the first name Rissa, which placed it at #20,076 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
#20,076
National first-name rank
People counted
518
518 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
61.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rissa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rissa is White at 61.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (14.1%) and Hispanic (10.6%). 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 Rissa 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 Rissa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.2% · 317
- Asian and Pacific Islander14.1% · 73
- Hispanic or Latino10.6% · 55
- Black or African American6.6% · 34
- Two or more races6.0% · 31
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 8
Popularity
Rissa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rissa from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 60 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Rissa remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rissa 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 Rissa 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 Rissa
The name Rissa has its origins in the Old Norse language and can be traced back to the Viking era in Scandinavia. It is believed to be derived from the Old Norse word "risi" which means "giant" or "powerful one." Historically, the name was likely given to children with the intention of wishing them strength and resilience in life.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rissa can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, which are a collection of historical narratives that depict the lives of notable figures and events in medieval Iceland. In the Saga of Gisli the Outlaw, a character named Rissa is mentioned, though little is known about her beyond her name.
During the Viking Age, which spanned from the late 8th to the late 11th century, the name Rissa was likely used among the Norse populations in Scandinavia and the areas they explored and settled, such as Iceland, Greenland, and parts of modern-day Britain and France.
In more recent history, a few notable individuals have borne the name Rissa. One example is Rissa Kharpoutlian (1888-1949), an Armenian-American writer and activist who advocated for women's rights and Armenian independence.
Another notable Rissa was Rissa Kerguelen (1933-2017), a French artist and sculptor known for her abstract and minimalist works. Her sculptures can be found in numerous public spaces and museums throughout France.
In the field of literature, Rissa Green (1898-1972) was an American novelist and short story writer who gained recognition for her works exploring themes of family, relationships, and the experiences of women in the early 20th century.
Rissa Sander (1908-1994) was a German-born American painter and printmaker whose works were heavily influenced by her experiences during World War II and her subsequent immigration to the United States.
Lastly, Rissa Jones (1957-2009) was a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist who gained popularity in the folk music scene of the 1980s and 1990s, known for her poetic lyrics and intricate guitar work.
While the name Rissa may not be as common today as it once was, its historical roots and unique meaning have contributed to its enduring presence throughout the centuries.
People
Rissa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rissa as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Rissa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rissa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 285 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rissa 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 1,202,647 US residents.
Is Rissa a common name?
We classify Rissa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 313 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rissa most popular?
The single biggest year for Rissa was 2002, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rissa 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 Rissa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 518 people with the name Rissa, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,076 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 Rissa 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 Rissa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rissa appears almost entirely female. Of the 507 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Rissa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rissa is White at 61.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (14.1%) and Hispanic (10.6%). 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 Rissa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Rissa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.2% (317 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 Rissa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rissa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rissa 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 Rissa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rissa 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 Rissa 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 common is the name Rissa?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.