Malissa
Feminine · “bee”
Malissa is Melissa with the first vowel changed to match how it is said — the Greek word for a bee, written the way American speech actually renders it.
How old is the name Malissa?
Malissa was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Malissa alive today was born around 1974, making them about 51 years old. About 7,300 people named Malissa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Malissa most popular?
Malissa peaked in 1880, reaching #342 nationally. Today it ranks #10917, 10,575 places below that high. See the whole 1880 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From melissa to Malissa
The story of Malissa
Melissa was a nymph of Greek myth and a name in Renaissance Italian literature before it became an ordinary English name. Nineteenth-century American families, particularly in the South, spelled it as they said it, and Malissa appears in the registers throughout the period, peaking around 1885.
Meaning
bee
Through Melissa, from the Greek melissa, 'bee', from meli, 'honey'. The unstressed first vowel is reduced in English speech, and the a spelling records that reduction. The Greek word is ordinary and the meaning undisputed.
How the name formed
- melissa
- Melissa
- Malissa
Related forms: Melissa · Melisa
Pronouncing Malissa
muh-LIS-uh
Three syllables, stress in the middle. Malissa and Melissa are said identically.
Nicknames for Malissa
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
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 1971294 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #342reached in 1880
- Change vs 2021
- +33.3%8 in 2025, 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.
Malissa in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Melissa in English — spelling variant
- Melisa in English — spelling variant
Malissas among us
people named Malissa are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 200,908 born in 2025 was named Malissa
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Malissa 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
Malissa beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Malissa in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The bee meaning is concrete, transparent and undisputed.
- The spelling records a real feature of American speech.
- Lissa and Mal are two short forms at different registers.
- Melissa is overwhelmingly the standard spelling.
- It is strongly period-coded to the nineteenth century.
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Malissa
Feminine · #10917 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Malissas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 7,300 people named Malissa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Malissa in 2025?
- Malissa ranks #10917 among US girl names in 2025, with 8 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Malissa?
- About 1 in every 200,908 US girls born in 2025 was named Malissa — 8 in all.
- Will my child share the name Malissa with classmates?
- Malissa will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Malissa
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Edythe#10917 · Tessie#10917 · Drusilla#10917 · Eugenie#10917 · Ivah#10917 · Karri#10917 · Claribel#10917 · Myrtle#10917
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Malissa? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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