Clarissa

Where Clarissa comes from

Borrowed from Italian Clarissa, from Medieval Latin Clarissa; see there for more. Popularized in English by Samuel Richardson's 1748 novel Clarissa. Doublet of Clarisse.
— Wiktionary's entry for Clarissa
  • Latin
  • Italian
  • 3 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #547 among girls — 10 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1945
    Clarissa Pinkola Estés born
    American psychoanalyst and writer
  3. 1980
    Clarissa Ward born
    American journalist
  4. 1994
    Peak, #237
    1,185 babies named Clarissa — more than any year before or since.
  5. 2008
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #563.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from Latin or Italian.
Namesakes
  • Clarissa Pinkola Estés · American psychoanalyst and writer, born 1945
  • Clarissa Ward · American journalist, born 1980
  • Clarissa Chun · American sport wrestler, born 1981
  • Clarissa dos Santos · Brazilian basketball player, born 1988
  • Clarissa Allen · American author and educator, 1859–1941

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.