Recorded 1880–2025 · United States
Melissa was most popular in 1979, when 34,179 American babies were given the name — ranking #10 that year. In 2025 it ranked #858, with 747 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 762,623 people named Melissa.
The Social Security Administration’s records begin in 1880, and Melissa is already there in that first year — so the name is older than the record and these figures cannot date it. It has been recorded in 146 of the 146 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 762,623 American births named Melissa between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 722,060 are estimated to be alive today.
747 American babies were named Melissa in 2025, ranking #858 that year.
Melissa is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 795 births a year, against 1,574 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -49% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Melissa is a girl’s name — 99.7% of the 762,623 Americans given it were girls and 0.3% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 100% girls and 0% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 722,060 Americans named Melissa are alive today — 95% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 47 years old, and half are between 39 and 54.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
Greek · "bee"
See Melissa on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org