Risa
Feminine · “Laughter”
Risa is laughter in Spanish, a name in Japanese, and a short form of Marisa and Theresa in English — three unrelated things arriving at four letters. Its American peak is 1966, and the third reading is the likeliest for that decade.
How old is the name Risa?
Risa first appears in US birth records in 1942 — 83 years ago. The typical Risa alive today was born around 1971, making them about 54 years old. About 3,800 people named Risa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Risa most popular?
Risa peaked in 1966, reaching #905 nationally. Today it ranks #5554, 4,649 places below that high. See the whole 1966 chart.
Where it comes from
From Marisa to Risa
Our story of Risa
The date points to the third reading. In the 1960s American naming was full of short forms of longer women's names registered as names in their own right — Lisa from Elisabeth, Tina from Christina, Rita from Margarita, Risa from Marisa or Larisa. Lisa in particular was one of the largest American girls' names of the decade, and Risa sits beside it phonetically and in the records. The Spanish and Japanese Risas are both real and both reached America, but they arrived on different curves — the Japanese later, with a general familiarity with Japanese names, and the Spanish never in numbers. The 1966 peak belongs to the English clipping, in the same decade that produced most of them.
Meaningscholars disagree
Laughter, if Spanish
Spanish risa means laughter, from Latin risus — a settled reading for the word, though its use as a Spanish given name is uncommon. Japanese Risa is written with various kanji and the meaning belongs to the writing. In English Risa functions as a short form of Marisa, Larisa and Theresa. The record does not distinguish which produced an American bearer.
How the name formed
- Marisa
- Risa
Related forms: Risa · りさ · Marisa
Pronouncing Risa
REE-sah
Two syllables, stress on the first. Spanish risa has a shorter first vowel, REE-sah with the r tapped; some American bearers say RISS-uh with a short i.
Nicknames for Risa
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
- 1942
- Most girls named
- 1962131 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #905reached in 1966
- Change vs 2023
- +100.0%22 in 2025, from 11
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.
Risa in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Risa in Spanish — related form
- りさ in Japanese — transliteration
- Marisa in Italian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, California, Texas.
Risas among us
people named Risa are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 73,058 born in 2025 was named Risa
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Risa
- #5554
- Risa on the 2025 chart
- #912
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Risa went to 22 girls in 2025, but Rysa, Riza and Ryza are the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 48, which makes it the 912th most-given girls’ name of the year — 4,642 places above the chart.
- Risa22
- Rysa15
- Riza6
- Ryza5
About 1 girl in 33,485 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 73,058 for Risa 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 Arlyne test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Risa's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Arlyne climbed just as high around 1921, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Arlyne's path sketches the road Risa is walking now.
Risa 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
Risa beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Risa in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Four letters and two open syllables travel anywhere.
- Marisa and Theresa both stand behind it as formal options.
- Everyone can say it after one hearing.
- The three possible sources have nothing to do with each other.
- In Spanish the word means laughter, which bilingual speakers will notice.
- Risa, Rissa and Reesa are three spellings of nearly one sound.
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What they receive
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Risa
Feminine · #5554 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Risas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,800 people named Risa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Risa?
- Risa is the most-used spelling in US records — 22 of the 48 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Rysa, Riza and Ryza.
- How popular is the name Risa in 2025?
- Risa ranks #5554 among US girl names in 2025, with 22 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Risa?
- About 1 in every 73,058 US girls born in 2025 was named Risa — 22 in all.
- Will my child share the name Risa with classmates?
- Risa will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Risa
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Eda#5554 · Phebe#5554 · Felicia#5554 · Audie#5554 · Maryellen#5554 · Warren#5554 · Ruthann#5554 · Nettie#5554
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Risa? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Risa and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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