Merissa
Merissa was last recorded in 2019, when 6 babies were given it; 3,412 Americans have been recorded with it between 1962 and 2019 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 3,330 Americans named Merissa and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (98% of everyone recorded); the median is 33 years old and half are between 27 and 39.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Merissa by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Merissa mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Merissa is “a female given name, variant of Marissa.”
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Merissa?
Unranked in 2025
Its last girls’ rank on record is #14,973, in 2019; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
172 babies in 1995, the peak
Merissa peaked in 1995, when 172 girls were given it, #1,044 among girls’ names. It was not recorded in 2025.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 6 | #14,973 | 3.6 |
| 2018 | 9 | #11,151 | 5.3 |
| 2017 | 6 | #15,325 | 3.5 |
| 2016 | 9 | #11,478 | 5.1 |
| 2015 | 8 | #12,624 | 4.5 |
| 2014 | 9 | #11,629 | 5.0 |
| 2013 | 13 | #8,893 | 7.4 |
| 2012 | 15 | #8,074 | 8.5 |
| 2011 | 20 | #6,490 | 11.4 |
| 2010 | 30 | #4,822 | 16.9 |
Every recorded year (53)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 34 | #4,440 | 18.5 |
| 2008 | 52 | #3,249 | 27.5 |
| 2007 | 68 | #2,699 | 35.4 |
| 2006 | 73 | #2,532 | 38.4 |
| 2005 | 77 | #2,330 | 41.7 |
| 2004 | 76 | #2,301 | 41.4 |
| 2003 | 83 | #2,115 | 45.4 |
| 2002 | 75 | #2,214 | 41.7 |
| 2001 | 85 | #2,002 | 47.2 |
| 2000 | 88 | #1,929 | 48.5 |
| 1999 | 88 | #1,819 | 49.6 |
| 1998 | 108 | #1,548 | 61.1 |
| 1997 | 109 | #1,500 | 62.6 |
| 1996 | 120 | #1,389 | 68.5 |
| 1995 | 172 | #1,044 | 97.8 |
| 1994 | 155 | #1,148 | 86.8 |
| 1993 | 167 | #1,084 | 92.3 |
| 1992 | 155 | #1,141 | 84.1 |
| 1991 | 158 | #1,122 | 84.3 |
| 1990 | 168 | #1,058 | 88.5 |
| 1989 | 155 | #1,083 | 84.1 |
| 1988 | 104 | #1,372 | 58.4 |
| 1987 | 125 | #1,177 | 71.9 |
| 1986 | 105 | #1,289 | 61.2 |
| 1985 | 65 | #1,751 | 37.8 |
| 1984 | 72 | #1,576 | 42.8 |
| 1983 | 63 | #1,725 | 37.7 |
| 1982 | 56 | #1,913 | 33.1 |
| 1981 | 58 | #1,877 | 34.8 |
| 1980 | 50 | #2,088 | 30.1 |
| 1979 | 70 | #1,618 | 43.6 |
| 1978 | 50 | #1,951 | 32.6 |
| 1977 | 60 | #1,729 | 39.1 |
| 1976 | 34 | #2,420 | 23.2 |
| 1975 | 26 | #2,857 | 17.8 |
| 1974 | 13 | #4,622 | 8.9 |
| 1973 | 12 | #4,745 | 8.2 |
| 1972 | 15 | #4,024 | 9.9 |
| 1971 | 12 | #4,724 | 7.2 |
| 1970 | 14 | #4,173 | 8.0 |
| 1967 | 5 | #7,488 | 3.0 |
| 1965 | 6 | #6,271 | 3.4 |
| 1962 | 6 | #6,334 | 3.1 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Merissa a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Merissa has been recorded only for girls: SSA lists no boys with the name in 53 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Merissa: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Merissa, and how old are they?
3,330 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 98% of the 3,412 Americans ever recorded as Merissa. The median Merissa alive today is 33 years old; half are between 27 and 39.
The 2020 Census counted 3,035 people named Merissa (3,028 women and girls, 7 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 3,351 born in the U.S. The Census count is 9% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 5 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 347 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 1,850 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 1,070 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 60 |
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 Merissa born?
The states with the most babies named Merissa are California, New York and Texas, with 56% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 465 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| New York | 202 | not ranked | 0.9× |
| Texas | 196 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Michigan | 125 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Pennsylvania | 104 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Ohio | 90 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| Florida | 71 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Illinois | 41 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| Washington | 39 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| Indiana | 28 | not ranked | 0.3× |
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 Merissa 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 4 names spelled alike, given to 4,288 babies since 1880, Merissa is the most given (80% 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 Merissa
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 Merissa and names like it
- Compare Merissa and MerisaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1990sMerissa peaked in 1995.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Merissa since 1910.
- The top names of 1995The year the most babies were named Merissa.
- The names of the MillennialsMost people named Merissa alive today were born 1981-1996.
- Names starting with MMost given first.