Velisa
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly related to Slavic words meaning "strong" or "great".
Name Census estimates that about 130 living Americans carry the first name Velisa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Velisa today is around 58 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Velisa births was 1967 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Velisa. 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
130
~ 1 in 2,636,572 Americans
Peak year
1967
23 babies that year
Average age
58
years old
1984 SSA rank
#10,379
Tracked since 1960
Census
Velisa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 170 people with the first name Velisa, which placed it at #42,346 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
#42,346
National first-name rank
People counted
170
170 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
62.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Velisa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Velisa is Black at 62.9%. The next largest groups are White (18.2%) and Hispanic (13.5%). 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 Velisa 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 Velisa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American62.9% · 107
- White18.2% · 31
- Hispanic or Latino13.5% · 23
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.1% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 1
- Two or more races0.6% · 1
Popularity
Velisa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Velisa from the 1960s through to the 1980s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 118 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Velisa 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 Velisa 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 Velisa
The name Velisa is believed to have originated from the Slavic languages, specifically Serbian and Croatian. It's thought to derive from the Slavic root "vel," meaning "great" or "large," combined with the diminutive suffix "-isa." This suggests the name may have initially carried the meaning of "little great one" or "little mighty one."
Historically, the name Velisa can be traced back to the Middle Ages in the Balkan region. It was particularly prevalent among the Serbs and Croats during this time period. In some ancient records and manuscripts from the 12th to 15th centuries, variations of the name, such as "Velislav" and "Velislava," were documented.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Velisa was in the 13th century, when a Serbian noblewoman named Velisa Nemanjić was mentioned in historical chronicles. She was a member of the influential Nemanjić dynasty that ruled the Serbian Kingdom during the Middle Ages.
Another notable figure bearing the name Velisa was a 14th-century Croatian nobleman and military commander named Velisa Vuković. He played a significant role in the defense of the Croatian territories against the Ottoman Empire's advances.
In the 15th century, a Serbian Orthodox monk and scholar known as Velisa Radović was renowned for his contributions to religious literature and translations of religious texts from Greek into Slavonic languages.
During the 16th century, a Croatian noblewoman named Velisa Frankopan was a prominent figure in the region. She was a member of the influential Frankopan noble family and played a role in the political affairs of the Croatian lands.
The name Velisa continued to be used throughout the subsequent centuries, although its popularity waxed and waned in different regions of the Slavic world. While it may not have been as widely used in recent times, the name carries a rich historical legacy and a strong connection to the Slavic cultural heritage.
People
Velisa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Velisa 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
Velisa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Velisa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 130 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Velisa 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 2,636,572 US residents.
Is Velisa a common name?
We classify Velisa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 153 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Velisa most popular?
The single biggest year for Velisa was 1967, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Velisa is about 58 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Velisa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 170 people with the name Velisa, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #42,346 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 Velisa 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 Velisa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Velisa leans strongly female. 167 people counted with this name were female (98.8%), compared with 2 male bearers (1.2%). 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 Velisa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Velisa is Black at 62.9%. The next largest groups are White (18.2%) and Hispanic (13.5%). 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 Velisa most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Velisa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.9% (107 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 Velisa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Velisa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Velisa 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 Velisa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Velisa 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 Velisa 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 Velisa?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.