Melissa Gilbert
There are approximately 269 people named Melissa Gilbert living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 1,274,180 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Melissa with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Gilbert. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and ancestry information.
Expected bearers
269
1 in 1,274,180
Named Melissa
691K
Alive today
Named Gilbert
134K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 691K
Rarity: Very Common
Gender: Female
Peak year: 1979
Average age: 45
Estimated bearers: 134K
Rarity: Common
Census rank: #268
Per 100K: 38.97
Top ancestry: White (77.8%)
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 Gilbert surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Gilbert, from the 2010 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 77.8%.
- White77.8%
- Black or African American15.9%
- Hispanic or Latino3.0%
- Two or more races2.0%
- 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 Gilbert appears at a rate of 38.97 per 100,000 residents in the 2010 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0390%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 269 people with the full name Melissa Gilbert. 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 Gilbert
FAQ
Melissa Gilbert: questions and answers
How many people are named Melissa Gilbert?
We estimate approximately 269 people in the United States share the full name Melissa Gilbert. That works out to about 1 in 1,274,180 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.2015%) with the surname frequency (38.97 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Melissa Gilbert?
We classify Melissa Gilbert as "Very Rare". About 1 in 1,274,180 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.