Girls' name · peaked in 1979
Melissa name popularity since 1925
760,662 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Melissa. Half of them were born in 1979 or earlier, so the typical Melissa is about 47 years old in 2026. Melissa peaked in 1979 as the #2 name for girls, and it ranked #420 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 760,662
- Named Melissa, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- #420
- for girls in 2025 (747 babies)
- Girls / boys
- 99.7% girls
- 758,167 girls · 2,495 boys
- Most popular in
- Rhode Island
- 1.44× its national share
Peak year is the year Melissa made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Melissa births per year, 1925–2025
1979 was the biggest year for Melissa both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1946 and 1951, Melissa became 5× more common, from 1 in 7,940 baby girls to 1 in 1,600.
- Steepest fall: Between 1993 and 1998, its share of baby girls fell by 46%, from 1 in 177 to 1 in 330.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Melissa's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Melissa.
Decade by decade
Babies named Melissa in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 230 | 0 | – |
| 1930s | 666 | 0 | #872 |
| 1940s | 2,837 | 0 | #532 |
| 1950s | 22,293 | 31 | #149 |
| 1960s | 119,202 | 307 | #38 |
| 1970s | 253,267 | 894 | #4 |
| 1980s | 217,922 | 921 | #11 |
| 1990s | 89,990 | 265 | #35 |
| 2000s | 32,625 | 72 | #104 |
| 2010s | 14,272 | 5 | #253 |
| 2020–25 | 4,863 | 0 | #420 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
49.2% of babies named Melissa from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Gen X years (1965–1980). The full split by generation:
Where Melissa is most popular
The index compares Melissa's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Melissa.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Rhode Island | 1.44× | 3,906 |
| New Hampshire | 1.36× | 3,278 |
| Vermont | 1.36× | 1,733 |
| Connecticut | 1.25× | 10,406 |
| Maine | 1.22× | 3,995 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Melissa and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Melissa (this page) | 758,167 | 1979 |
| Melisa | 19,111 | 1973 |
| Mellissa | 5,625 | 1979 |
| Mellisa | 4,575 | 1979 |
| Melyssa | 2,023 | 1989 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Melissa's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Melissa.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Melissa (1979).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data