Elyssia
Feminine
Elyssia sits between two classical names that were never related. Elissa was Dido's other name — the Phoenician queen who founded Carthage, called Elissa in Greek sources and Dido in Latin ones. Elysia is from the Elysian Fields, the Greek afterworld of the blessed. Elyssia takes a letter from each.
How old is the name Elyssia?
Elyssia first appears in US birth records in 1987 — 38 years ago. The typical Elyssia alive today was born around 2004, making them about 21 years old. About 600 people named Elyssia are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Elyssia most popular?
Elyssia peaked in 1997, reaching #4370 nationally. Today it ranks #6838, 2,468 places below that high. See the whole 1997 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Elysion to Elyssia
The story of Elyssia
Elissa entered European use through Virgil, who names Dido as Elissa in the Aeneid, and it stayed a literary name for centuries. Elysia entered through the Elysian Fields, a phrase in constant poetic circulation. Both were available to English-speaking families by the nineteenth century. What produced Elyssia specifically is more likely twentieth-century American respelling: Alyssa was a very large name from the 1980s, and swapping the first vowel to e and doubling the s yields exactly this. The 1997 peak sits inside Alyssa's own peak years, which is the strongest evidence for that reading.
Meaningscholars disagree
Either "of the Elysian fields" or a Phoenician royal name of unclear meaning
Elysium is Greek Elysion, of uncertain origin itself — possibly a pre-Greek borrowing. Elissa is the Greek rendering of a Phoenician name whose meaning is not recoverable. A third possibility is that the name is simply Alyssa respelled, with no classical intention at all. All three are live, and no source settles which applies.
How the name formed
- Elysion
- Elissa
- Elyssia
Related forms: Ἐλίσσα (Elissa) · Alyssa · Elisa
Pronouncing Elyssia
eh-LISS-ee-uh
Four syllables with the stress on the second. Many speakers reduce it to three, eh-LEE-shuh, treating the ssia as a single sound the way Russia and Persia are said. Both are heard and the spelling permits either.
Nicknames for Elyssia
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
- 1987
- Most girls named
- 200326 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #4370reached in 1997
- Change vs 2024
- 0.0%16 in 2025, from 16
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.
Elyssia in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ἐλίσσα (Elissa) in Greek — related form
- Alyssa in English — related form
- Elisa in Italian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas.
Elyssias among us
people named Elyssia are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 100,454 born in 2025 was named Elyssia
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Elyssia
- #6838
- Elyssia on the 2025 chart
- #935
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Elyssia went to 16 girls in 2025, but Elissia is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 25, which makes it the 935th most-given girls’ name of the year — 5,903 places above the chart.
- Elyssia16
- Elissia9
About 1 girl in 64,291 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 100,454 for Elyssia 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 Aparna test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Elyssia's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Aparna climbed just as high around 1975, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Aparna's path sketches the road Elyssia is walking now.
Elyssia 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
Elyssia beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Elyssia in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It has two genuine classical associations available, either of which is worth having.
- It sounds close enough to Alyssa and Melissa to need no introduction.
- The long form gives it a formality that most modern respellings lack.
- Four syllables and seven letters make it a long name to spell and say.
- Elysia, Elissa, Alyssa and Elyssia will all be confused with each other.
- The number of syllables is genuinely unsettled — three or four, depending on the speaker.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Elyssia to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Elyssia? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Elyssia
Feminine · #6838 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Elyssias are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Elyssia are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Elyssia?
- Elyssia is the most-used spelling in US records — 16 of the 25 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Elissia.
- How popular is the name Elyssia in 2025?
- Elyssia ranks #6838 among US girl names in 2025, with 16 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Elyssia?
- About 1 in every 100,454 US girls born in 2025 was named Elyssia — 16 in all.
- Will my child share the name Elyssia with classmates?
- Elyssia will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Elyssia
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Malana#6838 · Jeannie#6838 · Maxie#6838 · Nicol#6838 · Chaney#6838 · Keana#6838 · Concetta#6838 · Pheobe#6838
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Elyssia? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Elyssia and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle