Nerissa
Nerissa was given to 9 girls in 2025, #10,677 among girls’ names; 1,977 Americans have been recorded with it since 1915 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 1,870 Americans named Nerissa and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (94% of everyone recorded); the median is 42 years old and half are between 29 and 51.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Nerissa by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Nerissa mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Nerissa is “a female given name from Ancient Greek.” Its etymology gives the sense “sea-nymph” (Νηρηΐς).
Coined by Shakespeare for The Merchant of Venice, apparently from Ancient Greek Νηρηΐς (Nērēḯs, “sea-nymph”).
/nəˈɹɪsə/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Nerissa?
#10,677 among girls’ names, 2025
Nerissa rose from #18,372 in 2015 to #10,677 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born rose from 2.8 to 5.6 per million.
73 babies in 1979, the peak
Nerissa peaked in 1979, when 73 girls were given it, #1,585 among girls’ names. The 9 births of 2025 are 12% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 9 | #10,677 | 5.6 |
| 2024 | 6 | #14,787 | 3.7 |
| 2023 | 5 | #16,917 | 3.1 |
| 2021 | 8 | #11,886 | 4.9 |
| 2020 | 8 | #11,826 | 4.9 |
| 2019 | 9 | #11,123 | 5.4 |
| 2018 | 8 | #12,179 | 4.7 |
| 2017 | 15 | #7,736 | 8.7 |
| 2016 | 15 | #7,881 | 8.5 |
| 2015 | 5 | #18,372 | 2.8 |
Every recorded year (77)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 14 | #8,371 | 7.8 |
| 2013 | 8 | #12,825 | 4.6 |
| 2012 | 11 | #10,224 | 6.2 |
| 2011 | 9 | #11,894 | 5.1 |
| 2010 | 17 | #7,424 | 9.6 |
| 2009 | 21 | #6,486 | 11.4 |
| 2008 | 18 | #7,316 | 9.5 |
| 2007 | 29 | #5,056 | 15.1 |
| 2006 | 20 | #6,535 | 10.5 |
| 2005 | 22 | #5,735 | 11.9 |
| 2004 | 33 | #4,246 | 18.0 |
| 2003 | 22 | #5,547 | 12.0 |
| 2002 | 26 | #4,719 | 14.5 |
| 2001 | 31 | #4,080 | 17.2 |
| 2000 | 23 | #5,099 | 12.7 |
| 1999 | 29 | #4,047 | 16.3 |
| 1998 | 27 | #4,205 | 15.3 |
| 1997 | 31 | #3,681 | 17.8 |
| 1996 | 28 | #3,902 | 16.0 |
| 1995 | 35 | #3,264 | 19.9 |
| 1994 | 35 | #3,281 | 19.6 |
| 1993 | 30 | #3,647 | 16.6 |
| 1992 | 26 | #4,048 | 14.1 |
| 1991 | 33 | #3,341 | 17.6 |
| 1990 | 41 | #2,831 | 21.6 |
| 1989 | 48 | #2,432 | 26.0 |
| 1988 | 34 | #3,012 | 19.1 |
| 1987 | 43 | #2,423 | 24.7 |
| 1986 | 28 | #3,246 | 16.3 |
| 1985 | 39 | #2,526 | 22.7 |
| 1984 | 55 | #1,916 | 32.7 |
| 1983 | 51 | #2,011 | 30.5 |
| 1982 | 64 | #1,750 | 37.8 |
| 1981 | 72 | #1,625 | 43.2 |
| 1980 | 54 | #1,972 | 32.5 |
| 1979 | 73 | #1,585 | 45.5 |
| 1978 | 63 | #1,681 | 41.1 |
| 1977 | 38 | #2,365 | 24.8 |
| 1976 | 38 | #2,243 | 25.9 |
| 1975 | 51 | #1,828 | 35.0 |
| 1974 | 42 | #2,020 | 28.6 |
| 1973 | 33 | #2,336 | 22.6 |
| 1972 | 45 | #1,875 | 29.6 |
| 1971 | 44 | #1,956 | 26.4 |
| 1970 | 27 | #2,682 | 15.4 |
| 1969 | 38 | #2,046 | 22.5 |
| 1968 | 31 | #2,194 | 18.9 |
| 1967 | 26 | #2,415 | 15.7 |
| 1966 | 19 | #2,912 | 11.2 |
| 1965 | 26 | #2,388 | 14.7 |
| 1964 | 25 | #2,514 | 13.2 |
| 1963 | 18 | #3,037 | 9.3 |
| 1962 | 21 | #2,716 | 10.7 |
| 1961 | 8 | #5,168 | 4.0 |
| 1960 | 11 | #4,098 | 5.4 |
| 1959 | 12 | #3,760 | 5.9 |
| 1958 | 14 | #3,340 | 7.0 |
| 1957 | 12 | #3,622 | 5.9 |
| 1956 | 9 | #4,378 | 4.5 |
| 1955 | 6 | #5,659 | 3.1 |
| 1954 | 14 | #3,116 | 7.2 |
| 1953 | 6 | #5,476 | 3.2 |
| 1952 | 7 | #4,800 | 3.8 |
| 1950 | 7 | #4,613 | 4.1 |
| 1948 | 5 | #5,794 | 2.9 |
| 1918 | 7 | #4,165 | 6.0 |
| 1915 | 6 | #4,113 | 6.1 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Nerissa a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Nerissa has been recorded only for girls: SSA lists no boys with the name in 77 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Nerissa: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Nerissa, and how old are they?
1,870 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 94% of the 1,977 Americans ever recorded as Nerissa. The median Nerissa alive today is 42 years old; half are between 29 and 51.
The 2020 Census counted 2,760 people named Nerissa (2,757 women and girls, 3 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 1,859 born in the U.S. The Census count is 48% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 144 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 605 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 642 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 365 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 109 |
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 Nerissa born?
The states with the most babies named Nerissa are California, New York and Texas, with 82% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 224 | not ranked | 0.9× |
| New York | 108 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Texas | 53 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| North Carolina | 38 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Michigan | 16 | not ranked | 0.2× |
| Florida | 10 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| Illinois | 7 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| Pennsylvania | 6 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| Washington | 5 | not ranked | 0.1× |
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 Nerissa with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Nerissa
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 Nerissa and names like it
- Compare Nerissa and KamieBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1970sNerissa peaked in 1979.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Nerissa since 1910.
- Ancient Greek namesWiktionary’s origin for Nerissa: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1979The year the most babies were named Nerissa.
- The names of the MillennialsMost people named Nerissa alive today were born 1981-1996.
- Names starting with NMost given first.