Carlisha
Feminine
Carlisha joins a man's name to an ending that came loose from a different family of names, and nothing records the join. The French word its first syllables approach counts a number of bells that almost no instrument of the kind has any more.
How old is the name Carlisha?
Carlisha first appears in US birth records in 1977 — 48 years ago. The typical Carlisha alive today was born around 1992, making them about 33 years old. About 700 people named Carlisha are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Carlisha most popular?
Carlisha peaked in 1991, reaching #2886 nationally. See the whole 1991 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Carlisha
A carillon is named for having four bells. The Old French quarregnon came from a Latin word meaning a set of four, and the earliest instruments were exactly that: four bells struck in sequence to mark a quarter hour. Instruments grew. A modern carillon requires at least twenty-three bells to qualify under the international definition, played from a keyboard of wooden batons struck with the fists and pedals worked with the feet, and the largest have more than seventy and weigh over a hundred tonnes. The Low Countries built the tradition and still hold most of the great instruments, with playing schools in Mechelen and Amersfoort. The name has stopped describing the thing entirely, which is what usually happens when an instrument outgrows its first version.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The front is Carl or Carlos, from a Germanic word for a free man. The ending is a free American suffix from the same stock as a dozen others. Nothing records what a family meant by the combination.
Pronouncing Carlisha
kar-LEE-shuh
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. The i in the middle carries the long vowel, which is the one thing the spelling could be read two ways about.
Nicknames for Carlisha
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
- 1977
- Most girls named
- 199140 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2886reached in 1991
- Change vs 2007
- +16.7%7 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.
Carlishas among us
people named Carlisha 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
Carlisha 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 detach as short forms and neither sounds like the other.
- Middle stress on three syllables is the easiest rhythm English offers.
- The spelling is phonetic and can be written from hearing.
- Carlesha, Karlisha and Carlicia are all recorded and will be written for it.
- The name is firmly dated to the decades it was made in.
- Only the front carries a meaning, and it carries it at a distance.
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Carlisha
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Carlishas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Carlisha are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Carlisha in 2025?
- Carlisha is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Carlisha with classmates?
- Carlisha 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 Carlisha? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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