Vasilisa
A feminine Russian name derived from the Greek name Basileios, meaning "royal" or "kingly".
Name Census estimates that about 255 living Americans carry the first name Vasilisa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Vasilisa today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vasilisa births was 2016 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vasilisa. 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
255
~ 1 in 1,344,135 Americans
Peak year
2016
31 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,183
Tracked since 2006
Popularity
Vasilisa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vasilisa from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 174 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Vasilisa remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Vasilisa 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 Vasilisa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Vasilisas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Vasilisa
Vasilisa is a feminine given name that originates from the Greek language and culture. It is derived from the Greek word "basileus," meaning "king" or "ruler." The name can be traced back to ancient times and was commonly used in the Byzantine Empire and among Greek-speaking populations.
In the 10th century, the name Vasilisa appeared in various historical records and documents from the Byzantine Empire. It was a popular name among the Byzantine nobility and aristocracy, often given to daughters of emperors, princes, and high-ranking officials.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Vasilisa is Princess Vasilisa Komnene, a member of the Komnenian dynasty who lived in the late 11th and early 12th centuries. She was the daughter of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and played a significant role in the Byzantine court.
During the Middle Ages, the name Vasilisa also gained popularity in Slavic regions, particularly in Russia and Ukraine, where it was adopted and adapted into the local languages. In Russian, the name is spelled as "Vasilisa" or "Vassilissa."
Vasilisa Melentieva (1608-1638) was a notable Russian noblewoman and the second wife of Tsar Michael I of Russia. She played an influential role in the Russian court and was known for her patronage of the arts and culture.
In the 19th century, Vasilisa Vasilievna Zhukovskaya (1812-1892) was a prominent Russian writer and translator. She is particularly famous for her translations of works by German authors, including Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller.
Another notable figure bearing the name Vasilisa was Vasilisa Yegorovna Armfel (1785-1868), a Russian noblewoman and writer. She is best known for her memoirs, which provide valuable insights into the social and cultural life of the Russian nobility in the early 19th century.
In the 20th century, Vasilisa Maltseva (1892-1969) was a Russian painter and art teacher who made significant contributions to the development of Soviet art education. Her works are celebrated for their depictions of everyday life and the struggles of the working class.
The name Vasilisa has also been used in various literary works and folklore. One of the most famous examples is the Russian fairy tale "Vasilisa the Beautiful," which follows the adventures of a young girl named Vasilisa who overcomes various challenges with the help of a magical doll.
People
Vasilisa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vasilisa as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with V
Other first names starting with V with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Vasilisa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vasilisa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 255 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vasilisa 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 1,344,135 US residents.
Is Vasilisa a common name?
We classify Vasilisa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 257 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vasilisa most popular?
The single biggest year for Vasilisa was 2016, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vasilisa is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Vasilisa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Vasilisa 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.