Milissa
Feminine · “bee”
Every respelling of this name changes a different letter. Mellisa moves the doubling; Melisa removes it; Milissa changes the first vowel. Three families, three decisions, one name — and only the last of them alters something that Greek actually put there.
How old is the name Milissa?
Milissa first appears in US birth records in 1950 — 75 years ago. The typical Milissa alive today was born around 1972, making them about 53 years old. About 2,800 people named Milissa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Milissa most popular?
Milissa peaked in 1968, reaching #783 nationally. See the whole 1968 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From melissa to Milissa
The story of Milissa
A name becomes respellable when it becomes common, and this one became very common very fast. Once that happens, the letters most likely to move are the ones English gives no rule for — a doubled consonant that could be single, an unstressed vowel that could be anything. This name has both, and the record shows every combination in use. What is unusual here is that the changed letter is the stressed vowel, which normally resists change. It survives because the syllable is short and quick, and because Milissa and Melissa are said close enough to identically that nobody listening can tell.
Meaning
bee
The Greek word is the ordinary term for a honeybee. The first vowel is an e in Greek and in every language that borrowed the name, so writing it as an i is the one change in this family that departs from the original.
How the name formed
- melissa
- Melissa
- Milissa
Related forms: Melissa · Melisa
Pronouncing Milissa
muh-LISS-uh
Three syllables with the weight in the middle. The first is reduced enough that Melissa and Milissa are indistinguishable in ordinary speech.
Nicknames for Milissa
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
- 1950
- Most girls named
- 1968163 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #783reached in 1968
- Change vs 2004
- +40.0%7 in 2008, from 5
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.
Milissa in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Melissa in Greek — transliteration
- Melisa in Spanish — spelling variant
Milissas among us
people named Milissa 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
Milissa 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
- Said aloud it is completely familiar and needs no explanation.
- It carries three short forms with quite different characters.
- The meaning is concrete, pleasant and one of the shortest in Greek.
- Melissa is the standard spelling and will be written instead, every time.
- The changed vowel is the one Greek actually specified, which purists will mention.
- It reads as a name of the second half of the twentieth century.
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Milissa
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Milissas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,800 people named Milissa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Milissa in 2025?
- Milissa is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Milissa with classmates?
- Milissa will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More M names
The most-given names starting with M, all years combined.
Mary#125 · Margaret#112 · Michelle#465 · Melissa#419 · Maria#87 · Martha#712 · Marie#617 · Mildred#1962
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Milissa? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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