Calissa
Feminine · “Greek "most beautiful”
Callisto was turned into a bear and then into a constellation. The nymph's name means most beautiful — kallistē — and she ends up as the Great Bear, which is why the brightest satellite of Jupiter and the most recognizable star pattern in the northern sky share her story.
How old is the name Calissa?
Calissa first appears in US birth records in 1962 — 63 years ago. The typical Calissa alive today was born around 2006, making them about 19 years old. About 900 people named Calissa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Calissa most popular?
Calissa peaked in 1999, reaching #2854 nationally. Today it ranks #7885, 5,031 places below that high. See the whole 1999 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From kallistē to Calissa
The story of Calissa
Callisto was a companion of Artemis who was seduced by Zeus and transformed into a bear, in some versions by Hera and in others by Artemis. Zeus placed her among the stars as Ursa Major, and her son Arcas became Ursa Minor. The name kallistē was also a cult title of Artemis herself, and there was a shrine of Artemis Kalliste in Athens near Callisto's supposed tomb, which suggests the story may be a rationalisation of the goddess's own epithet. Galileo named Jupiter's moons after Zeus's lovers, Callisto among them, in 1610. The American given name Calissa peaks in 1999.
Meaningscholars disagree
Greek "most beautiful"
Calissa is generally taken as a form of Calista or Callista, from Greek kallistē, the superlative feminine of kalos, beautiful. It may alternatively be a modern American formation on Ca- with the -lissa ending drawn from Melissa. The two readings are not distinguishable in the record, and only the first supplies a meaning.
How the name formed
- kallistē
- Callisto
- Calissa
Related forms: Calista · Kalissa · Καλλίστη
Pronouncing Calissa
kuh-LISS-uh
Three syllables, stress on the second, with a hissed s. Calista is kuh-LIST-uh with a t, and the two names are frequently confused.
Nicknames for Calissa
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1962
- Most girls named
- 200149 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2854reached in 1999
- Change vs 2024
- 0.0%13 in 2025, from 13
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Calissa in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Calista in English — related form
- Kalissa in English — spelling variant
- Καλλίστη in Greek — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California.
Calissas among us
people named Calissa are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 123,636 born in 2025 was named Calissa
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Calissa
- #7885
- Calissa on the 2025 chart
- #926
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Calissa went to 13 girls in 2025, but Kalissa and Kalyssa are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 34, which makes it the 926th most-given girls’ name of the year — 6,959 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 47,273 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 123,636 for Calissa itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Mee test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Calissa's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Mee climbed just as high around 1983, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Mee's path sketches the road Calissa is walking now.
Calissa sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Calissa beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Calissa in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The Greek reading is settled and entirely complimentary.
- Cali and Lissa are ready short forms that stand alone.
- It fits the dominant rhythm of current American girls' names.
- Two possible origins are live and only one supplies a meaning.
- Kalissa and Calista compete for a similar sound.
- It is easily confused with Melissa and Alissa in speech.
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What they receive
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Calissa
Feminine · #7885 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Calissas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Calissa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Calissa?
- Calissa is the most-used spelling in US records — 13 of the 34 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Kalissa and Kalyssa.
- How popular is the name Calissa in 2025?
- Calissa ranks #7885 among US girl names in 2025, with 13 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Calissa?
- About 1 in every 123,636 US girls born in 2025 was named Calissa — 13 in all.
- Will my child share the name Calissa with classmates?
- Calissa will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Calissa
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ola#7885 · Loula#7885 · Consuelo#7885 · Santa#7885 · Florentina#7885 · Marty#7885 · Jaye#7885 · Dollie#7885
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Calissa? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Calissa and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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