Girls' name · since 1880
Melissa
760,128 babies named Melissa in U.S. Social Security records since 1880, with the highest year being 1979. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.
- #29 of 72,339
- all-time among girls
- #419 of 17,297
- 2025 SSA year
- 760,128
- born since 1880
- 1970s
- peak decade
Yes -- Melissa is the #419 most popular girls' name in the U.S. today, with 760,128 recorded since 1880.
Melissa has 760,128 recorded births among girls since 1880, per the U.S. Social Security Administration, ranked #419 as of the latest data, more common than 98% of girls, busiest in the 1970s -- see the year-by-year trends, decade totals, and state-level distribution below, all drawn directly from SSA birth-registration files spanning 1880 to 2025.
- #29 of 72,339 all-time among girls
- #419 of 17,297 2025 SSA year
- 760,128 born since 1880
- 1970s peak decade
Data updated Aug 2026
The verdict
According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Melissa ranks #29 of 72,339 girls' names by all-time recorded births (highest first) and #419 of 17,297 among girls' names in 2025. 760,128 born since 1880, peaking in the 1970s.
- #29 of 72,339
- all-time among girls
- #419 of 17,297
- 2025 SSA year
- 760,128
- born since 1880
- 1970s
- peak decade
Melissa's 760,128 recorded births place it above 99.95% of the 72,339 girls names in the full SSA archive.
51 jurisdictions carry state-level records, led by California.
How Melissa compares
760,128 Top 1% higher than 99% of 17,297 names currently given to girls
Based on all-time total births among currently-ranked girls names. Names with fewer occurrences are grouped into wider buckets on the right.
Source U.S. Social Security Administration, national baby name data
How the numbers stack up
Melissa's all-time total is 2,022x the median girls name, and Olivia still leads by a wide margin.
| Metric | Melissa | Median girls name (Kyann) | #1 girls name (Olivia) |
|---|---|---|---|
| All-time total births | 760,128 | 376 | 567,345 |
| Peak-year births | 34,050 | 21 | 19,840 |
Melissa's usage pattern, beyond the headline number
Splitting Melissa's full recorded timeline at 1953, 99% of its total births fall in the more recent half of the record versus 1% in the earlier half -- usage has skewed toward the present, not a one-decade spike. Its quietest year on record was 1906, with just 22 recorded births -- worth weighing against the 1979 peak of 34,050 to see the full range of the name's swing in popularity.
Melissa popularity over time - girls
Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 1880–2025
- Peak year (1979)
- 34,050
- Annual births at peak, across 146 years of records
Melissa popularity over time - boys
2,495 total births recorded since 1956 (Melissa as boys' name)
Melissa by decade
1970s is the heaviest window (253,267 births, 33% of the file).
1970s was Melissa's strongest decade.
253,267 babies received the name during that ten-year window, about 33% of all-time use.
Melissa births by decade
Total births in each ten-year window
- 1880s 427
1880s
427 births
- 1890s 399
1890s
399 births
- 1900s 323
1900s
323 births
- 1910s 516
1910s
516 births
- 1920s 526
1920s
526 births
- 1930s 666
1930s
666 births
- 1940s 2,837
1940s
2,837 births
- 1950s 22,293
1950s
22,293 births
- 1960s
1960s
119,202 births
- 1970s
1970s
253,267 births
- 1980s
1980s
217,922 births
- 1990s 89,990
1990s
89,990 births
- 2000s 32,625
2000s
32,625 births
- 2010s 14,272
2010s
14,272 births
- 2020s 4,863
2020s
4,863 births
What this shows Peak: 1970s at 253,267 births (33% of all-time use).
How Melissa compares to similarly-sized names
Years in SSA records vs. share of all-time use concentrated in the single peak year, among 15 girls names closest to Melissa's total volume
Melissa by state
Where Melissa concentrates geographically, total births since 1880
| Rank | State | Visual share | Births | Share of total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | California | | 86,611 | 11.4% |
| #2 | Texas | | 57,957 | 7.6% |
| #3 | New York | | 56,743 | 7.5% |
| #4 | Pennsylvania | | 38,972 | 5.1% |
| #5 | Ohio | | 38,923 | 5.1% |
| #6 | Illinois | | 35,040 | 4.6% |
| #7 | Florida | | 29,795 | 3.9% |
| #8 | Michigan | | 29,076 | 3.8% |
86,611 of 760,128 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 51 reporting states.
Melissa appears in 51 states. Explore state details →
Frequently Asked Questions
How popular is the name Melissa? ▼
Where does Melissa sit in the SSA name archive? ▼
When was Melissa most popular? ▼
Where is Melissa most popular? ▼
How long has the name Melissa been used? ▼
What names are similar to Melissa? ▼
What to do with Melissa's data
- Melissa's decade-level peak was the 1970s (253,267 total births); usage has since declined to 4,863 in the 2020s -- if you're weighing a "classic revival" angle, the trend line argues against it.
- California records the most Melissas (86,611 births) -- see the full state breakdown if geography matters to your decision. California names
Figures reflect SSA-reported births only; see the methodology above for the privacy-suppression floor.
Keep exploring Melissa
Nearby Names Like Melissa
Names with a similar sound, spelling, or feel to Melissa
Compare Melissa side by side: Melissa vs Melanie Melissa vs Melinda Melissa vs Melody
Related Names
Names with a similar popularity rank to Melissa
Nationwide names with similar peak year or record span
Two nationwide peer axes for Melissa: closest SSA peak year, and closest first→latest record span. Distinct from the spelling and current-rank neighborhoods above.
Similar peak year (~1979)
Similar record span (~145 yrs)
Peak year is the single SSA year with the most births for that name; record span is first-to-latest year in the national files, not a recommendation or shared origin claim.
Data Sources
Data as of August 2026. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).
According to the Social Security Administration, this profile draws directly from the agency's public-use baby-name files (updated June 2026). See our methodology for the full extraction, aggregation, and privacy-suppression rules.
Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications, National Data, 1880–2025 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames).
State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names, State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip).
Name Almanac is rendered directly from the Social Security Administration's public baby-name files, no number is typed in by an editor. This profile for Melissa draws directly on SSA national and state-level files, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.