Malissa
Malissa was given to 8 girls in 2025, #11,542 among girls’ names; 8,866 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 7,160 Americans named Malissa and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (81% of everyone recorded); the median is 48 years old and half are between 40 and 56.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Malissa by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
How popular is Malissa?
#11,542 among girls’ names, 2025
Malissa fell from #9,908 in 2015 to #11,542 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 6.2 to 5.0 per million.
307 babies in 1979, the peak
Malissa peaked in 1979, when 307 girls were given it, #588 among girls’ names. The 8 births of 2025 are 3% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 8 | #11,542 | under 0.01 |
| 2023 | 7 | #12,961 | under 0.01 |
| 2022 | 5 | #16,830 | under 0.01 |
| 2021 | 6 | #14,611 | under 0.01 |
| 2020 | 8 | #11,742 | under 0.01 |
| 2019 | 5 | #17,093 | under 0.01 |
| 2018 | 14 | #8,006 | 0.01 |
| 2017 | 6 | #15,256 | under 0.01 |
| 2016 | 12 | #9,219 | 0.01 |
| 2015 | 11 | #9,908 | 0.01 |
Every recorded year (145)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 16 | #7,519 | 0.01 |
| 2013 | 13 | #8,877 | 0.01 |
| 2012 | 8 | #12,971 | under 0.01 |
| 2011 | 16 | #7,663 | 0.01 |
| 2010 | 12 | #9,586 | 0.01 |
| 2009 | 20 | #6,721 | 0.01 |
| 2008 | 32 | #4,721 | 0.02 |
| 2007 | 32 | #4,626 | 0.02 |
| 2006 | 28 | #5,046 | 0.01 |
| 2005 | 31 | #4,441 | 0.02 |
| 2004 | 30 | #4,564 | 0.02 |
| 2003 | 30 | #4,372 | 0.02 |
| 2002 | 32 | #4,038 | 0.02 |
| 2001 | 32 | #3,994 | 0.02 |
| 2000 | 35 | #3,701 | 0.02 |
| 1999 | 43 | #3,083 | 0.02 |
| 1998 | 55 | #2,516 | 0.03 |
| 1997 | 64 | #2,164 | 0.04 |
| 1996 | 65 | #2,117 | 0.04 |
| 1995 | 60 | #2,223 | 0.03 |
| 1994 | 95 | #1,596 | 0.05 |
| 1993 | 112 | #1,439 | 0.06 |
| 1992 | 129 | #1,305 | 0.07 |
| 1991 | 129 | #1,292 | 0.07 |
| 1990 | 150 | #1,147 | 0.08 |
| 1989 | 153 | #1,094 | 0.08 |
| 1988 | 158 | #1,026 | 0.09 |
| 1987 | 148 | #1,046 | 0.09 |
| 1986 | 169 | #941 | 0.10 |
| 1985 | 170 | #930 | 0.10 |
| 1984 | 183 | #843 | 0.11 |
| 1983 | 177 | #865 | 0.11 |
| 1982 | 211 | #777 | 0.12 |
| 1981 | 228 | #725 | 0.14 |
| 1980 | 207 | #793 | 0.12 |
| 1979 | 307 | #588 | 0.19 |
| 1978 | 244 | #660 | 0.16 |
| 1977 | 258 | #643 | 0.17 |
| 1976 | 231 | #665 | 0.16 |
| 1975 | 231 | #659 | 0.16 |
| 1974 | 234 | #651 | 0.16 |
| 1973 | 288 | #570 | 0.20 |
| 1972 | 305 | #548 | 0.20 |
| 1971 | 294 | #592 | 0.18 |
| 1970 | 265 | #630 | 0.15 |
| 1969 | 268 | #612 | 0.16 |
| 1968 | 258 | #600 | 0.16 |
| 1967 | 221 | #642 | 0.13 |
| 1966 | 183 | #729 | 0.11 |
| 1965 | 126 | #896 | 0.07 |
| 1964 | 95 | #1,131 | 0.05 |
| 1963 | 83 | #1,207 | 0.04 |
| 1962 | 62 | #1,415 | 0.03 |
| 1961 | 56 | #1,509 | 0.03 |
| 1960 | 51 | #1,570 | 0.03 |
| 1959 | 32 | #2,005 | 0.02 |
| 1958 | 38 | #1,780 | 0.02 |
| 1957 | 47 | #1,580 | 0.02 |
| 1956 | 36 | #1,780 | 0.02 |
| 1955 | 22 | #2,379 | 0.01 |
| 1954 | 22 | #2,340 | 0.01 |
| 1953 | 22 | #2,269 | 0.01 |
| 1952 | 23 | #2,174 | 0.01 |
| 1951 | 31 | #1,762 | 0.02 |
| 1950 | 20 | #2,225 | 0.01 |
| 1949 | 17 | #2,475 | 0.01 |
| 1948 | 15 | #2,658 | 0.01 |
| 1947 | 24 | #2,023 | 0.01 |
| 1946 | 18 | #2,281 | 0.01 |
| 1945 | 10 | #3,044 | 0.01 |
| 1944 | 8 | #3,568 | 0.01 |
| 1943 | 16 | #2,316 | 0.01 |
| 1942 | 17 | #2,166 | 0.01 |
| 1941 | 6 | #4,242 | under 0.01 |
| 1940 | 18 | #1,938 | 0.02 |
| 1939 | 16 | #2,091 | 0.01 |
| 1938 | 5 | #4,728 | under 0.01 |
| 1937 | 12 | #2,518 | 0.01 |
| 1936 | 7 | #3,587 | 0.01 |
| 1935 | 14 | #2,262 | 0.01 |
| 1934 | 8 | #3,345 | 0.01 |
| 1933 | 10 | #2,800 | 0.01 |
| 1932 | 15 | #2,197 | 0.01 |
| 1931 | 13 | #2,376 | 0.01 |
| 1930 | 21 | #1,786 | 0.02 |
| 1929 | 19 | #1,927 | 0.02 |
| 1928 | 17 | #2,153 | 0.01 |
| 1927 | 26 | #1,654 | 0.02 |
| 1926 | 25 | #1,695 | 0.02 |
| 1925 | 18 | #2,158 | 0.01 |
| 1924 | 42 | #1,237 | 0.03 |
| 1923 | 29 | #1,543 | 0.02 |
| 1922 | 29 | #1,557 | 0.02 |
| 1921 | 32 | #1,459 | 0.03 |
| 1920 | 28 | #1,571 | 0.02 |
| 1919 | 30 | #1,439 | 0.03 |
| 1918 | 28 | #1,521 | 0.02 |
| 1917 | 23 | #1,633 | 0.02 |
| 1916 | 25 | #1,512 | 0.02 |
| 1915 | 23 | #1,553 | 0.02 |
| 1914 | 35 | #1,015 | 0.05 |
| 1913 | 22 | #1,208 | 0.04 |
| 1912 | 25 | #1,045 | 0.04 |
| 1911 | 17 | #1,095 | 0.04 |
| 1910 | 22 | #932 | 0.06 |
| 1909 | 14 | #1,134 | 0.04 |
| 1908 | 15 | #1,071 | 0.04 |
| 1907 | 22 | #809 | 0.07 |
| 1906 | 20 | #832 | 0.07 |
| 1905 | 23 | #771 | 0.08 |
| 1904 | 20 | #823 | 0.07 |
| 1903 | 14 | #958 | 0.05 |
| 1902 | 24 | #706 | 0.09 |
| 1901 | 14 | #905 | 0.06 |
| 1900 | 30 | #652 | 0.10 |
| 1899 | 18 | #779 | 0.08 |
| 1898 | 12 | #1,031 | 0.05 |
| 1897 | 17 | #778 | 0.07 |
| 1896 | 25 | #628 | 0.11 |
| 1895 | 24 | #636 | 0.10 |
| 1894 | 18 | #712 | 0.08 |
| 1893 | 20 | #653 | 0.09 |
| 1892 | 21 | #631 | 0.10 |
| 1891 | 17 | #657 | 0.09 |
| 1890 | 20 | #592 | 0.11 |
| 1889 | 24 | #526 | 0.13 |
| 1888 | 16 | #656 | 0.09 |
| 1887 | 17 | #550 | 0.12 |
| 1886 | 21 | #487 | 0.15 |
| 1885 | 25 | #423 | 0.19 |
| 1884 | 13 | #606 | 0.10 |
| 1883 | 24 | #384 | 0.21 |
| 1882 | 7 | #784 | 0.06 |
| 1881 | 16 | #429 | 0.17 |
| 1880 | 22 | #348 | 0.24 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Malissa a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Malissa has been recorded only for girls: SSA lists no boys with the name in 145 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Malissa: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Malissa, and how old are they?
7,160 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 81% of the 8,866 Americans ever recorded as Malissa. The median Malissa alive today is 48 years old; half are between 40 and 56.
The 2020 Census counted 6,963 people named Malissa (6,958 women and girls, 5 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 7,324 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 | 64 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 578 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 3,650 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 2,270 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 494 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 110 |
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 Malissa born?
The states with the most babies named Malissa are California, Texas and New York, with 33% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 809 | not ranked | 0.9× |
| Texas | 401 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| New York | 351 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Ohio | 292 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Michigan | 288 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Illinois | 252 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| Florida | 228 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Pennsylvania | 201 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Georgia | 191 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Indiana | 147 | not ranked | 0.7× |
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 Malissa 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 13,515 babies since 1880, Malissa is the most given (66% of them).
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 Malissa
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
| Name | Recorded | 1880-2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Liza | 17,655 |
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 Malissa and names like it
- Compare Malissa and MalisaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1970sMalissa peaked in 1979.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Malissa since 1910.
- The top names of 1979The year the most babies were named Malissa.
- The names of Generation XMost people named Malissa alive today were born 1965-1980.
- Names starting with MMost given first.