Melissa

Where Melissa comes from

From Ancient Greek μέλισσα (mélissa, “bee, honey, or honeybee”). In Ireland it is sometimes used as a feminine form of the Gaelic male name Maol Íosa (literally “servant of Jesus”).
— Wiktionary's entry for Melissa
  • Ancient Greek
  • 3 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #271 among girls — 33 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1960
    Melissa Leo born
    American actress
  3. 1976
    Melissa Joan Hart born
    American actress
  4. 1979
    Peak, #2
    34,050 babies named Melissa — more than any year before or since.
  5. 1988
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #16.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from Ancient Greek, popular in the latter half of the 20th century.
Namesakes
  • Melissa Leo · American actress, born 1960
  • Melissa Joan Hart · American actress, born 1976
  • Melissa Benoist · American actress and singer, born 1988
  • Melissa Rauch · American actress, born 1980
  • Melissa George · Australian actress, born 1976

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.