Kalisa
Feminine
Kalisa is a prefix on a mid-century name, and the timing is what makes it legible. Lisa was the most-used girls' name in America in 1966; by 1973, when Kalisa peaks, it was familiar enough to be used as raw material rather than as a name in itself. Prefixing a name usually means the name has stopped being new.
How old is the name Kalisa?
Kalisa first appears in US birth records in 1962 — 63 years ago. The typical Kalisa alive today was born around 2003, making them about 22 years old. About 500 people named Kalisa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kalisa most popular?
Kalisa peaked in 1973, reaching #5580 nationally. Today it ranks #7133, 1,553 places below that high. See the whole 1973 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Elisheva to Kalisa
Our story of Kalisa
There is a rough three-stage life to a very large name. In the first stage it is chosen for itself. In the second, when it is at the top of the charts, it starts generating respellings — Lisa gives Lissa, Lyssa, Leesa. In the third, and only when it is common enough to be almost invisible, it becomes a component: something a prefix can be attached to. Kalisa, Talisa, Alisa and Malisa all belong to that third stage, and they arrive a few years after the peak rather than during it, because a name has to be thoroughly ordinary before anyone will treat it as a part. Kalisa peaks in 1973, seven years after Lisa's own peak, which is about the interval you would expect.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Lisa is a short form of Elisabeth, from Hebrew Elisheva, my God is an oath — a settled etymology for Lisa itself. Ka- is a prefix syllable with no meaning. The compound carries nothing forward, because prefixing does not modify meaning in English. There is also a Rwandan place name Kalisa and a Kinyarwanda name of the same spelling, unrelated to the American formation.
How the name formed
- Elisheva
- Elisabeth
- Lisa
- Kalisa
Pronouncing Kalisa
kuh-LEE-suh
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. The s is voiced to a Z by many speakers, as in Lisa itself. Kalisa, Kalissa and Kaleesa are one name aloud.
Nicknames for Kalisa
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
- 200720 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #5580reached in 1973
- Change vs 2023
- +50.0%15 in 2025, from 10
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.
Kalisa in other languages
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York.
Kalisas among us
people named Kalisa are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 107,151 born in 2025 was named Kalisa
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Kalisa
- #7133
- Kalisa on the 2025 chart
- #939
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Kalisa went to 15 girls in 2025, but Khalisa is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 21, which makes it the 939th most-given girls’ name of the year — 6,194 places above the chart.
- Kalisa15
- Khalisa6
About 1 girl in 76,537 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 107,151 for Kalisa 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 Esthela test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kalisa's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Esthela climbed just as high around 1952, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Esthela's path sketches the road Kalisa is walking now.
Kalisa 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
Kalisa beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kalisa in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Lisa is available inside it as a complete short form.
- The rhythm matches Melissa and Marisa exactly, so nothing needs teaching.
- It is soft throughout with no hard consonants.
- It has no meaning as a compound.
- The s is voiced by some speakers and not by others.
- The 1973 peak dates it to a specific decade.
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What they receive
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Kalisa
Feminine · #7133 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kalisas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Kalisa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Kalisa?
- Kalisa is the most-used spelling in US records — 15 of the 21 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Khalisa.
- How popular is the name Kalisa in 2025?
- Kalisa ranks #7133 among US girl names in 2025, with 15 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kalisa?
- About 1 in every 107,151 US girls born in 2025 was named Kalisa — 15 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kalisa with classmates?
- Kalisa will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kalisa
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Pennie#7133 · Zina#7133 · Elzie#7133 · Rosabel#7133 · Adelene#7133 · Cruz#7133 · Kansas#7133 · Ione#7133
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kalisa? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kalisa and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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