first name
MELISSA
of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census
Of the 675,224 people named Melissa, 73.9% reported their origin as White, 16.4% as Hispanic or Latino and 4.2% 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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Melissa peaked in 1979, when 34,179 babies got the name.
At least 762,623 babies have been given the name since 1880. 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.
Melissa by decade
Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1970s, when it ranked #13. The largest share of babies named Melissa, 49.1%, 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 Melissa is most common
Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Melissa has been most common in Rhode Island (1.4×), New Hampshire (1.4×), and Vermont (1.3×), and least common in Mississippi (0.71×).
757,401 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 Melissa
Spelled almost the same
8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Melissa, most common first.
Also a last name
As a last name, Melissa ranks #87,947 of 156,621, with 227 people. See Melissa as a last name
Compare
🔎 MELISSA 🟦🟦⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 1 in 447 Americans More common than 78.2% of us Peaked in 1979 with 34,179 babies Beat that 👇 https://howrareismy.name/first/melissa/