first name
MELISA
of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census
Of the 18,912 people named Melisa, 54.7% reported their origin as White, 33.7% as Hispanic or Latino and 5.6% as Black. Virtually all are female (99.9%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.
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Melisa peaked in 1979, when 661 babies got the name.
At least 19,121 babies have been given the name since 1948. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.
Melisa by decade
Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1970s, when it ranked #694. The largest share of babies named Melisa, 46.1%, were born between 1965 and 1980, Generation X's birth years.
Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.
Where Melisa is most common
Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Melisa has been most common in California (1.7×), Florida (1.6×), and Texas (1.5×), and least common in West Virginia (0.39×).
15,935 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.
Either side of Melisa
Spelled almost the same
8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Melisa, most common first.
Compare
🔎 MELISA 🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬜⬜ 1 in 15,970 Americans Rarer than 76.2% of us Peaked in 1979 with 661 babies Beat that 👇 https://howrareismy.name/first/melisa/