Renisha
Feminine
Renisha is an American build with no documented parent. Its opening syllable is shared with the name of a whole historical period, and that period was labeled long after everybody in it was dead.
How old is the name Renisha?
Renisha first appears in US birth records in 1971 — 54 years ago. The typical Renisha alive today was born around 1989, making them about 36 years old. About 700 people named Renisha are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Renisha most popular?
Renisha peaked in 1985, reaching #2601 nationally. See the whole 1985 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Renisha
Nobody living in fifteenth-century Florence thought they were in the Renaissance. Contemporary writers did talk about a rebirth of the arts, but the period label as we use it was applied by a French historian in the nineteenth century and then argued into general use by a Swiss scholar whose book set the terms of the discussion for a hundred years. Historians have been picking at it ever since: when it started, whether it happened at all, whether it is a useful category or a piece of nineteenth-century self-flattery projected backward. The name has outlasted every attempt to replace it, because periods need labels and this one is memorable.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No source has been documented. The front and the ending were both free elements in American naming of the period, and nothing explains this particular pairing.
Pronouncing Renisha
ruh-NEE-shuh
Three syllables with the weight in the middle. ruh-NISH-uh is also heard.
Nicknames for Renisha
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
- 1971
- Most girls named
- 199341 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2601reached in 1985
- Change vs 2011
- −28.6%5 in 2016, 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.
Renishas among us
people named Renisha 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
Renisha 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
- Nisha and Ren are both available as short forms and both work on their own.
- The stress falls where an English reader expects, so first attempts land correctly.
- Three soft syllables carry well and are easy to hear across a room.
- Two readings of the middle vowel are in circulation and the spelling settles neither.
- Ranisha, Renita and Tenisha are all in the record and will be confused with it.
- No origin is documented, so the meaning question has nothing to answer with.
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Renisha
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Renishas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Renisha are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Renisha in 2025?
- Renisha is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Renisha with classmates?
- Renisha will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More R names
The most-given names starting with R, all years combined.
Ruth#173 · Rebecca#349 · Rachel#250 · Rose#114 · Ruby#64 · Robin#704 · Rita#1285 · Rhonda#6116
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Renisha? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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