Marissa
Feminine · “bitter”
Marissa is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 120,842 girls against 270 boys since 1880.
Marissa is Maria elaborated. Latin and Italian both build longer names out of shorter ones by adding syllables, and Marissa is what that habit does to the most-used woman's name in Europe.
How old is the name Marissa?
Marissa first appears in US birth records in 1936 — 89 years ago. The typical Marissa alive today was born around 1996, making them about 29 years old. About 119,000 people named Marissa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Marissa most popular?
Marissa peaked in 1994, reaching #53 nationally. Today it ranks #1673, 1,620 places below that high. See the whole 1994 chart.
Marissa appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From Miryam to Marissa
The story of Marissa
Maris and Marissa appear in English literary use from the sixteenth century as elaborations of Maria, and Italian has Marisa as a compound of María and Luisa. American families took the double-s spelling up in the twentieth century, and it rose sharply through the 1970s and 1980s alongside Melissa, Clarissa and Carissa, which share its ending and its rhythm. It peaked in the early 1990s.
Meaningscholars disagree
bitter; beloved; sea
Through Maria, from the Hebrew Miryam, whose meaning has never been settled — 'bitter', 'beloved' and 'rebellious' have all been proposed. The frequently repeated 'of the sea' comes from the Latin phrase stella maris, 'star of the sea', a Marian title; it is an association rather than an etymology.
How the name formed
- Miryam
- Maria
- Marissa
Related forms: Marisa · Marisa · Merissa
Pronouncing Marissa
muh-RISS-uh
Three syllables, stress in the middle. The Italian Marisa has a softer, more voiced s.
Nicknames for Marissa
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
- 1936
- Most girls named
- 19946,246 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #53reached in 1994
- Change vs 2023
- −10.9%123 in 2025, from 138
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.
Marissa in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Marisa in Italian — spelling variant
- Marisa in Spanish — spelling variant
- Merissa in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Marissas among us
people named Marissa are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 13,067 born in 2025 was named Marissa
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Arlene test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Marissa's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Arlene climbed just as high around 1934, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Arlene's path sketches the road Marissa is walking now.
Marissa is coming down from a big peak (#53 in 1994). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Marissa is headed
Marissa is easing off slowly — about 23% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Marissa beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Marissa in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Maria stands behind it, the single most-used woman's name in European history.
- Three syllables with a strong middle, a rhythm that carries well when spoken.
- Rissa and Mari are both available and pull in different directions.
- The 'of the sea' reading everyone repeats is a Marian title rather than an etymology.
- Marissa and Marisa are both established and easily confused.
- It is closely dated to the 1980s and 1990s in American records.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Marissa 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 Marissa? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Marissa
Feminine · #1673 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Marissas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 119,000 people named Marissa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Marissa in 2025?
- Marissa ranks #1673 among US girl names in 2025, with 123 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Marissa?
- About 1 in every 13,067 US girls born in 2025 was named Marissa — 123 in all.
- Will my child share the name Marissa with classmates?
- Marissa will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Marissa
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Maylin#1673 · Alannah#1673 · Camellia#1673 · Miya#1673 · Adrienne#1673 · Vamika#1673 · Denise#1673 · Kalilah#1673
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Marissa? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Marissa 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