Melissa Name Popularity

Charts | Table | About | By Year

How popular is Melissa?

In 2018 the somewhat popular name Melissa, ranked the 297th Most Popular Girls Name in the United States.

Presently one of the top 500 most popular, Melissa has been less popular than the top 1000 in the past.

It reached its highest popularity ranking of #2 for the first time in 1977 and as recently as 1979 with 34,052 occurrences.

The least amount of newborns dubbed Melissa in any given year was 22 in 1906.

Melissa, decisively moved upwards in popularity around the years 1904-1907, 1911-1915, 1934-1943, 1944-1970, and 1974-1979, whereas clearly downward trends happened around 1888-1891, 1979-2011, and 2012-2016.

Melissa's popularity has been spiralling downward for some time. In recent years, continuing the trend, the number of babies given the name Melissa has dropped.

What does the future hold for the popularity of Melissa?

Melissa's popularity is at an extremely low point when measured against its most notable year.

The name Melissa is favored by many parents but will probably continue to drift downward in popularity.

Relative to what it once was, Melissa is much less frequently used as a given name.

*Mouse over the charts or scroll down to the table for data details.

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for Percentages.

		Melissa (Girl)		Melissa (Boy)
Year	%	No. of Babies Given Name	Popul. Rank	No. of Babies Given Name	Popul. Rank
2018		1,114	297	< 5	--
2017		1,169	274	< 5	--
2016		1,234	258	< 5	--
2015		1,281	253	5	13,348
2014		1,506	224	< 5	--
2013		1,591	202	< 5	--
2012		1,771	178	< 5	--
2011		1,708	184	< 5	--
2010		1,949	156	< 5	--
2009		2,335	137	< 5	--
2008		2,516	134	7	10,637
2007		2,503	137	6	11,861
2006		2,892	117	5	13,346
2005		3,084	104	11	6,946
2004		3,335	98	7	9,593
2003		3,501	96	8	8,349
2002		3,767	80	8	8,184
2001		4,145	74	12	5,896
2000		4,529	71	8	7,938
1999		4,830	64	18	4,101
1998		5,354	59	19	3,802
1997		6,679	44	20	3,546
1996		7,169	42	15	4,319
1995		7,877	35	21	3,267
1994		8,798	31	25	2,911
1993		10,223	30	32	2,378
1992		11,710	24	39	2,026
1991		13,344	20	27	2,582
1990		13,998	20	49	1,678
1989		15,203	19	77	1,227
1988		16,544	16	73	1,183
1987		17,674	13	74	1,120
1986		17,662	12	84	1,013
1985		19,956	11	85	995
1984		21,891	8	83	981
1983		23,473	6	101	874
1982		25,867	5	109	851
1981		28,000	5	97	910
1980		31,636	4	138	747
1979		34,052	2	129	764
1978		28,330	2	101	857
1977		26,886	2	92	890
1976		25,095	3	88	887
1975		24,165	4	92	869
1974		22,166	7	86	869
1973		22,480	6	78	909
1972		22,503	7	84	883
1971		23,869	7	75	946
1970		23,737	7	70	964
1969		23,020	5	69	918
1968		21,727	5	61	936
1967		18,379	9	43	1,146
1966		14,252	22	37	1,254
1965		10,565	38	26	1,546
1964		8,317	53	18	1,952
1963		7,320	61	25	1,620
1962		6,308	68	10	2,785
1961		4,902	95	9	3,028
1960		4,415	109	9	3,012
1959		3,627	126	11	2,623
1958		3,326	129	11	2,594
1957		2,777	147	< 5	--
1956		2,527	150	9	2,902
1955		2,414	149	< 5	--
1954		2,061	170	< 5	--
1953		2,005	164	< 5	--
1952		1,442	201	< 5	--
1951		1,130	229	< 5	--
1950		980	240	< 5	--
1949		780	276	< 5	--
1948		600	318	< 5	--
1947		319	459	< 5	--
1946		198	567	< 5	--
1945		186	533	< 5	--
1944		177	542	< 5	--
1943		189	548	< 5	--
1942		154	599	< 5	--
1941		141	594	< 5	--
1940		95	716	< 5	--
1939		116	631	< 5	--
1938		85	754	< 5	--
1937		90	718	< 5	--
1936		56	919	< 5	--
1935		63	872	< 5	--
1934		43	1,071	< 5	--
1933		51	968	< 5	--
1932		62	896	< 5	--
1931		43	1,087	< 5	--
1930		57	976	< 5	--
1929		42	1,147	< 5	--
1928		43	1,174	< 5	--
1927		44	1,169	< 5	--
1926		46	1,125	< 5	--
1925		55	1,017	< 5	--
1924		53	1,075	< 5	--
1923		51	1,074	< 5	--
1922		68	889	< 5	--
1921		66	917	< 5	--
1920		59	957	< 5	--
1919		49	1,034	< 5	--
1918		63	909	< 5	--
1917		54	950	< 5	--
1916		64	854	< 5	--
1915		67	805	< 5	--
1914		52	814	< 5	--
1913		47	772	< 5	--
1912		42	776	< 5	--
1911		31	785	< 5	--
1910		47	614	< 5	--
1909		33	702	< 5	--
1908		27	753	< 5	--
1907		38	611	< 5	--
1906		22	787	< 5	--
1905		30	650	< 5	--
1904		24	719	< 5	--
1903		35	553	< 5	--
1902		40	505	< 5	--
1901		34	527	< 5	--
1900		40	536	< 5	--
1899		47	427	< 5	--
1898		35	539	< 5	--
1897		35	495	< 5	--
1896		30	562	< 5	--
1895		41	448	< 5	--
1894		52	392	< 5	--
1893		53	372	< 5	--
1892		34	469	< 5	--
1891		30	474	< 5	--
1890		42	390	< 5	--
1889		46	355	< 5	--
1888		40	384	< 5	--
1887		34	370	< 5	--
1886		58	274	< 5	--
1885		45	299	< 5	--
1884		48	279	< 5	--
1883		42	276	< 5	--
1882		41	276	< 5	--
1881		40	256	< 5	--
1880		33	274	< 5	--

United States name popularity data is provided by the Social Security Administration and is based on Social Security card applications.

Data for a given year is not made available until well into the next year.

Data reflects what was recorded and has not been edited for errors, so for example the gender associated with a name may be incorrect.

The more babies that are given a particular name, the higher the popularity ranking. If multiple names have the same usage, the tie is broken by assigning popularity rank in alphabetical order. Therefore in the case of names with fewer occurrences, names with the same number of occurrences may have vastly different rankings because they will be interranked alphabetically.

To safeguard privacy, the SSA does not include names with less than 5 occurrences.

Please note, we update the data each May when the SSA releases new figures. All data changes at that time, including previous years, which will change minutely based on new information.