Jaleesa
Feminine
Jaleesa is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 3,261 girls against 6 boys since 1880.
Jaleesa arrived from a single television character in 1987, and the registers show it — a name that did not exist in the data one year and appeared in the hundreds the next.
How old is the name Jaleesa?
Jaleesa first appears in US birth records in 1987 — 38 years ago. The typical Jaleesa alive today was born around 1990, making them about 35 years old. About 3,200 people named Jaleesa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jaleesa most popular?
Jaleesa peaked in 1988, reaching #344 nationally. See the whole 1988 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Jaleesa
Our story of Jaleesa is a story of a single broadcast. A television series introduced a character of the name in 1987, and the American birth registers register the effect immediately: the name appears from that year, rises for about five years, and falls away again. It is one of the cleanest documented cases of a name entering a language from one fictional character — the whole arc visible in the data, beginning to end, inside a decade.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No established etymology. It is a modern American coinage built from the Ja- prefix and the -lisa or -leesa element, both productive in the period. Occasional derivations from Arabic or Swahili are claimed but not supported. Honest sources record it as a coinage.
Pronouncing Jaleesa
juh-LEE-suh
Three syllables, stress in the middle. All the spellings of the sound are said identically.
Nicknames for Jaleesa
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
- 1988718 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #344reached in 1988
- Change vs 2023
- −14.3%6 in 2024, from 7
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.
Jaleesa in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Jalisa in English — spelling variant
- Jalissa in English — spelling variant
- Jalesa in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Florida, New York.
Jaleesas among us
people named Jaleesa 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
Jaleesa 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
- Its arrival is unusually well documented — a specific character and year.
- Lisa and Jay are two short forms, both with substantial records.
- Three syllables with a strong middle, a rhythm that carries well.
- There is no inherited meaning.
- Several spellings of the sound are in use.
- It is sharply dated to the late 1980s and early 1990s.
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Jaleesa
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Jaleesas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,200 people named Jaleesa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Jaleesa in 2025?
- Jaleesa is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Jaleesa with classmates?
- Jaleesa will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More J names
The most-given names starting with J, all years combined.
Jennifer#586 · Jessica#665 · Janet#2778 · Julie#872 · Joyce#1071 · Joan#1085 · Julia#131 · Jean#2117
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Jaleesa? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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