How Many People Are Named Melissa?
people named Melissa are alive in the United States today (estimate)
About 1 in 475 people in the US has this name
Based on 762,623 babies named Melissa in Social Security records from 1880 to 2025, and the share of each birth year still alive in 2025.
Popularity Rank
⭐⭐ Common
Peak Year
34,179 births
Trend
Stable (last 10 years)
📖 Name Origin & Meaning
Meaning:
French form of MELISSA.
Source of the meaning, origin, pronunciation and related names: Behind the Name.
Same Sound, Other Spellings
These names are pronounced like Melissa in English. Counting Melissa and these spellings together, about 720,124 people alive in the US have the name.
⚧ Gender Distribution
Almost all of the babies given the name Melissa (99.7%) were girls.
👥 Age Distribution
The average person named Melissa alive today is about 45 years old, and 82% are between 30 and 59. Half of them were between 38 and 53 in 2025.
📈 Popularity Over Time
Melissa first appears in the records in 1880 and was given most often in 1979, to 34,179 babies. In 2025, 747 babies got the name.
Babies given the name each year, 1880 to 2025
🏆 Rank History
Melissa reached #2 among girls' names in 1977 to 1979, and was in the top 10 for 18 years, 1967 to 1984. In 2025 it ranked #420.
| Girls | |
|---|---|
| Rank in 2025 | #420 |
| Best rank | #2 (1977 to 1979) |
| Years in the top 10 | 18 |
| Years in the top 100 | 44 (1961 to 2004) |
| Rank in its biggest decade | #3 in the 1970s |
📍 State-Wise Distribution
People named Melissa alive today, by the state where they were born (estimate; state records start in 1910).
More people named Melissa were born in California than in any other state: about 83,315 of those alive today. Compared with the national rate in the same years, Melissa was given 1.5 times as often in Rhode Island, 1.4 times in West Virginia and 1.3 times in Kentucky.
Look up another name
⊙ We don't save the names you search.