ninan.org

Melissa

Girls' name · Late 20th-century

Living in the US
~724,400 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#419 among girls
Births in 2025
747 762,623 since 1880
Typical age
46 years, median

Melissa popularity over time

Melissa rank by birth year, 1880–2025Melissa ranked #271 in 1880 and #419 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #2, in 1977.#10#100#1,000#419best #2 in 197718901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

More children were named Melissa in 1979 than in any other year — 34,179 of them. It is present from 1880, the first year of the record. Melissa has spent 44 years inside the national top 100.

The 2025 position is #419, on 747 births. Over ten years the count has fallen 42%. Year on year the rank dropped by 40.

Babies named Melissa per yearPeaks at 34,179 births in 1979.34,179 in 1979018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Melissa?

An estimated 724,400 living Americans are called Melissa. That is out of 762,623 recorded births since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Melissa?

Half of living Melissas are older than 46, half younger. The 1970s produced the largest surviving cohort. By the site’s era rules that makes Melissa a late 20th-century name.

Your Melissa

Ages of living people named MelissaHalf of living Melissas are older than 46 and half younger.median 46020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Melissa is most common

Melissa is 2.1× as common in California as it is nationally. Massachusetts, Nevada and Florida follow.

Where Melissa is used more than average5 states use the name Melissa more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: 1.4× the national rateWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: 1.6× the national rateNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: 2.1× the national rateCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: 1.9× the national rateMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: not over-representedDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: 1.5× the national rateFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Melissa is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
California 2,133 2.1×
Massachusetts 270 1.9×
Nevada 94 1.6×
Florida 707 1.5×
Washington 239 1.4×

Melissa in England and Wales

ONS recorded 136 births named Melissa in 2025, ranking it #321. That is 31% lower than five years earlier.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Melissa comes from

From Ancient Greek μέλισσα (“bee, honey, or honeybee”). In Ireland it is sometimes used as a feminine form of the Gaelic male name Maol Íosa.

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Melissa

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Melissa Leo American actress 1960 61
Melissa Joan Hart American actress 1976 53
Melissa Benoist American actress and singer 1988 49
Melissa Rauch American actress 1980 47
Melissa George Australian actress 1976 41
Melissa McBride American actress 1965 38
Melissa Gilbert American actress 1964 37
Melissa Etheridge American singer-songwriter 1961 36
Photo credits (8)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 319 in 1947 to 600 in 1948 — 1.9 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/melissa.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).