Talisa
Feminine
The s in the middle of this name is said as a z, and nothing in the spelling admits it. English routinely voices an s between two vowels — rise, nose, easy — but the rule is not reliable enough to be trusted, so a reader meeting the name cold has no way of knowing which sound is wanted.
How old is the name Talisa?
Talisa first appears in US birth records in 1959 — 66 years ago. The typical Talisa alive today was born around 1989, making them about 36 years old. About 2,000 people named Talisa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Talisa most popular?
Talisa peaked in 1989, reaching #1019 nationally. See the whole 1989 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Talitha to Talisa
The story of Talisa
One possible ancestor is a phrase the gospels refused to translate. In the account of a girl being raised from the dead, the writer records what was said in the original Aramaic — talitha koum, little girl, get up — and then translates it for his Greek readers, which he does only a handful of times in the whole book. Leaving the words in is a deliberate choice: it preserves the sound of what was actually spoken in a text otherwise written in another language. Talitha entered English naming from that verse, and a name shortened from it would be carrying two words that survived translation because somebody thought they mattered.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The name may be built from an American prefix and a familiar short form, or shortened from a much older word discussed below. The two routes give entirely different answers and the record does not choose between them.
How the name formed
- Talitha
- Talisa
Pronouncing Talisa
tuh-LEE-suh
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. Many families say tuh-LEE-zuh instead, voicing the s, and the spelling gives no help either way.
Nicknames for Talisa
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
- 1959
- Most girls named
- 1989168 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1019reached in 1989
- Change vs 2022
- +33.3%8 in 2024, 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.
Talisas among us
people named Talisa 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
Talisa 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
- Lisa and Tali both sit inside it as complete and independent short forms.
- The rhythm is even and the name is comfortable at length.
- It may reach back to a very old phrase, which few names of its shape can claim.
- The middle consonant has two pronunciations and neither is signaled.
- Talissa and Taleesa both appear and the spelling gets queried.
- No meaning can be given, because the route into the name is unknown.
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Talisa
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Talisas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,000 people named Talisa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Talisa in 2025?
- Talisa is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Talisa with classmates?
- Talisa will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More T names
The most-given names starting with T, all years combined.
Teresa#908 · Theresa#1548 · Tiffany#878 · Tammy#3645 · Taylor#403 · Tina#2778 · Tracy#2153 · Thelma#4661
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Talisa? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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