Elissa
Elissa was given to 108 girls in 2025, #1,848 among girls’ names; 18,033 Americans have been recorded with it since 1914 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 16,600 Americans named Elissa and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (92% of everyone recorded); the median is 36 years old and half are between 21 and 49.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Elissa by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Elissa mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Elissa is “a female given name from Ancient Greek.”
Borrowed from Ancient Greek Ἔλῐσσᾰ (Élĭssă); probably from Phoenician 𐤀𐤋𐤀𐤎𐤕 (ʾlʾst /Elishat/), 𐤀𐤋𐤀𐤎 (ʾlʾs /Elisha/).
/əˈlɪs.ə/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Elissa?
#1,848 among girls’ names, 2025
Elissa fell from #1,394 in 2015 to #1,848 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 94.7 to 67.2 per million.
408 babies in 1979, the peak
Elissa peaked in 1979, when 408 girls were given it, #496 among girls’ names. The 108 births of 2025 are 26% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 108 | #1,848 | 0.07 |
| 2024 | 140 | #1,530 | 0.09 |
| 2023 | 150 | #1,465 | 0.09 |
| 2022 | 160 | #1,416 | 0.10 |
| 2021 | 164 | #1,348 | 0.10 |
| 2020 | 164 | #1,345 | 0.10 |
| 2019 | 213 | #1,137 | 0.13 |
| 2018 | 183 | #1,264 | 0.11 |
| 2017 | 166 | #1,388 | 0.10 |
| 2016 | 166 | #1,404 | 0.09 |
Every recorded year (106)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 169 | #1,394 | 0.09 |
| 2014 | 242 | #1,065 | 0.14 |
| 2013 | 235 | #1,057 | 0.13 |
| 2012 | 298 | #888 | 0.17 |
| 2011 | 224 | #1,098 | 0.13 |
| 2010 | 219 | #1,122 | 0.12 |
| 2009 | 206 | #1,211 | 0.11 |
| 2008 | 247 | #1,059 | 0.13 |
| 2007 | 224 | #1,145 | 0.12 |
| 2006 | 248 | #1,033 | 0.13 |
| 2005 | 274 | #910 | 0.15 |
| 2004 | 279 | #881 | 0.15 |
| 2003 | 284 | #852 | 0.16 |
| 2002 | 299 | #788 | 0.17 |
| 2001 | 302 | #784 | 0.17 |
| 2000 | 290 | #792 | 0.16 |
| 1999 | 305 | #736 | 0.17 |
| 1998 | 311 | #712 | 0.18 |
| 1997 | 300 | #717 | 0.17 |
| 1996 | 269 | #779 | 0.15 |
| 1995 | 290 | #713 | 0.16 |
| 1994 | 247 | #816 | 0.14 |
| 1993 | 272 | #759 | 0.15 |
| 1992 | 292 | #727 | 0.16 |
| 1991 | 300 | #706 | 0.16 |
| 1990 | 279 | #743 | 0.15 |
| 1989 | 339 | #623 | 0.18 |
| 1988 | 258 | #727 | 0.14 |
| 1987 | 302 | #633 | 0.17 |
| 1986 | 340 | #574 | 0.20 |
| 1985 | 302 | #622 | 0.18 |
| 1984 | 315 | #580 | 0.19 |
| 1983 | 348 | #539 | 0.21 |
| 1982 | 364 | #535 | 0.21 |
| 1981 | 352 | #534 | 0.21 |
| 1980 | 357 | #529 | 0.22 |
| 1979 | 408 | #496 | 0.25 |
| 1978 | 279 | #612 | 0.18 |
| 1977 | 271 | #620 | 0.18 |
| 1976 | 216 | #688 | 0.15 |
| 1975 | 216 | #695 | 0.15 |
| 1974 | 175 | #783 | 0.12 |
| 1973 | 226 | #659 | 0.15 |
| 1972 | 201 | #714 | 0.13 |
| 1971 | 215 | #709 | 0.13 |
| 1970 | 258 | #637 | 0.15 |
| 1969 | 177 | #757 | 0.10 |
| 1968 | 170 | #763 | 0.10 |
| 1967 | 155 | #802 | 0.09 |
| 1966 | 115 | #950 | 0.07 |
| 1965 | 103 | #1,026 | 0.06 |
| 1964 | 131 | #914 | 0.07 |
| 1963 | 165 | #808 | 0.09 |
| 1962 | 112 | #1,016 | 0.06 |
| 1961 | 119 | #994 | 0.06 |
| 1960 | 105 | #1,047 | 0.05 |
| 1959 | 122 | #950 | 0.06 |
| 1958 | 110 | #987 | 0.05 |
| 1957 | 94 | #1,072 | 0.05 |
| 1956 | 109 | #966 | 0.05 |
| 1955 | 144 | #804 | 0.07 |
| 1954 | 166 | #718 | 0.09 |
| 1953 | 167 | #708 | 0.09 |
| 1952 | 172 | #679 | 0.09 |
| 1951 | 113 | #840 | 0.06 |
| 1950 | 86 | #981 | 0.05 |
| 1949 | 119 | #791 | 0.07 |
| 1948 | 109 | #837 | 0.06 |
| 1947 | 88 | #944 | 0.05 |
| 1946 | 73 | #979 | 0.05 |
| 1945 | 55 | #1,051 | 0.04 |
| 1944 | 51 | #1,092 | 0.04 |
| 1943 | 63 | #997 | 0.05 |
| 1942 | 41 | #1,251 | 0.03 |
| 1941 | 42 | #1,154 | 0.03 |
| 1940 | 35 | #1,247 | 0.03 |
| 1939 | 42 | #1,111 | 0.04 |
| 1938 | 40 | #1,148 | 0.04 |
| 1937 | 37 | #1,182 | 0.03 |
| 1936 | 44 | #1,055 | 0.04 |
| 1935 | 61 | #886 | 0.06 |
| 1934 | 50 | #976 | 0.05 |
| 1933 | 54 | #927 | 0.05 |
| 1932 | 29 | #1,397 | 0.03 |
| 1931 | 14 | #2,228 | 0.01 |
| 1930 | 7 | #3,766 | 0.01 |
| 1928 | 5 | #4,923 | under 0.01 |
| 1924 | 6 | #4,628 | under 0.01 |
| 1923 | 8 | #3,732 | 0.01 |
| 1921 | 7 | #4,138 | 0.01 |
| 1920 | 11 | #2,968 | 0.01 |
| 1918 | 13 | #2,564 | 0.01 |
| 1917 | 6 | #4,232 | 0.01 |
| 1916 | 14 | #2,284 | 0.01 |
| 1915 | 7 | #3,534 | 0.01 |
| 1914 | 6 | #3,306 | 0.01 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Elissa a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Elissa has been recorded only for girls: SSA lists no boys with the name in 106 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Elissa: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Elissa, and how old are they?
16,600 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 92% of the 18,033 Americans ever recorded as Elissa. The median Elissa alive today is 36 years old; half are between 21 and 49.
The 2020 Census counted 15,308 people named Elissa (15,282 women and girls, 26 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 16,137 born in the U.S. The Census count is 5% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 238 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 1,800 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 3,310 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 4,730 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 4,260 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 2,250 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Elissa born?
The states with the most babies named Elissa are California, New York and Texas, with 49% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 2,429 | #1,094 | 1.1× |
| New York | 2,416 | not ranked | 1.9× |
| Texas | 1,774 | #1,421 | 1.2× |
| Illinois | 765 | not ranked | 0.9× |
| Pennsylvania | 736 | not ranked | 0.9× |
| Florida | 621 | #1,963 | 0.8× |
| Ohio | 580 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| New Jersey | 572 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Michigan | 533 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Massachusetts | 419 | not ranked | 0.9× |
Where Elissa is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Elissa is most over-represented in New York: since 1914 it was given 1.9 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Elissa with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 192,649 babies since 1880, Elissa is the fourth most given (9.4% of them). In 2025 it was given to 108 of their 2,720 babies (4.0%), the sixth most given that year.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Elissa
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Elissa and names like it
- Compare Elissa and EliseBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1970sElissa peaked in 1979.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Elissa since 1910.
- Ancient Greek namesWiktionary’s origin for Elissa: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1979The year the most babies were named Elissa.
- The names of the MillennialsMost people named Elissa alive today were born 1981-1996.
- Names starting with EMost given first.