Carlisa
Feminine
Lisa was the name American parents chose more than any other for most of the 1960s, which means that the generation who grew up surrounded by Lisas were the ones who went looking for something that had a Lisa in it and was not one. Carlisa is what that looks like.
How old is the name Carlisa?
Carlisa first appears in US birth records in 1957 — 68 years ago. The typical Carlisa alive today was born around 1983, making them about 42 years old. About 1,000 people named Carlisa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Carlisa most popular?
Carlisa peaked in 1975, reaching #2456 nationally. See the whole 1975 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Lisa becomes the most-given American girls' name of the 1960s to Carlisa
Our story of Carlisa
There is a rhythm to how a very large name behaves. First it is everywhere, and for about a decade nobody minds. Then the parents who grew up in a classroom with four of them start having children, and they want the sound without the crowd — so the name throws off variants, compounds and respellings at exactly the moment its own numbers begin to fall. The record shows this happening again and again: the peak of a name and the peak of its derivatives are a generation apart, and the derivatives are the shadow the original casts on the way down.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The name joins Carl or Carla to Lisa at a shared consonant, which is a genuine method of name-building rather than an accident. Neither half brings its meaning with it: Carl is a Germanic word for a free man and Lisa is the tail end of a Hebrew name about God and an oath, and the compound means neither of those things.
How the name formed
- Lisa becomes the most-given American girls' name of the 1960s
- families look for the sound without the crowd
- compounds and variants appear in its wake
- Carlisa enters the record in the late 1950s
- peaks in the middle 1970s
Related forms: Carlissa · Carla
Pronouncing Carlisa
kar-LEE-suh
Three syllables with the weight in the middle. The s between two vowels is voiced, so it says z, as it does in Lisa itself.
Nicknames for Carlisa
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
- 1957
- Most girls named
- 199039 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2456reached in 1975
- Change vs 2011
- −16.7%5 in 2014, from 6
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.
Carlisa in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Carlissa in English — spelling variant
- Carla in English — related form
Carlisas among us
people named Carlisa are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Carlisa sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Both halves are usable on their own, which gives a child two options.
- It is read correctly at sight and holds no surprises.
- The rhythm is strong and it carries well when called.
- Carlissa is also in the record and the doubled s will be added regularly.
- There is no meaning for the compound, only for its halves.
- It is closely dated to the 1960s and 1970s.
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Carlisa
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Carlisas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Carlisa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Carlisa in 2025?
- Carlisa is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Carlisa with classmates?
- Carlisa will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More C names
The most-given names starting with C, all years combined.
Carol#2239 · Cynthia#1013 · Catherine#313 · Christine#1272 · Carolyn#1222 · Christina#770 · Charlotte#2 · Cheryl#4352
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Carlisa? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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