Melissa Anderson
There are approximately 1,837 people named Melissa Anderson living in the United States today. That makes this name combination rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 186,584 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Melissa with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Anderson. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and ancestry information.
Expected bearers
1,837
1 in 186,584
Named Melissa
691K
Alive today
Named Anderson
911K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 691K
Rarity: Very Common
Gender: Female
Peak year: 1979
Average age: 45
Estimated bearers: 911K
Rarity: Very Common
Census rank: #15
Per 100K: 265.92
Top ancestry: White (75.2%)
First name trend
Melissa: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Melissa. The peak year was 1979 with 34,179 births. The average person named Melissa today is 45 years old.
Babies born per year
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Anderson surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Anderson, from the 2010 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 75.2%.
- White75.2%
- Black or African American18.9%
- Hispanic or Latino2.4%
- Two or more races2.1%
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7%
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6%
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Melissa has a living-bearer frequency of 0.2015% of the US population, based on 690,697 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
The surname Anderson appears at a rate of 265.92 per 100,000 residents in the 2010 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.2659%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 1,837 people with the full name Melissa Anderson. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Melissa
Related
Other people with the surname Anderson
FAQ
Melissa Anderson: questions and answers
How many people are named Melissa Anderson?
We estimate approximately 1,837 people in the United States share the full name Melissa Anderson. That works out to about 1 in 186,584 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.2015%) with the surname frequency (265.92 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Melissa Anderson?
We classify Melissa Anderson as "Rare". About 1 in 186,584 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Melissa a male or female name?
Melissa is predominantly female. Out of 761,881 total SSA registrations, 0.3% were male and 99.7% were female. See the full Melissa profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2010 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.