Missy

Where Missy comes from

The dictionaries list Missy as a given name — a diminutive of the female given name Melissa — but don't trace where it came from. The record below is what the SSA data shows.

  • 2 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1943
    First appearance
    #4,691 among girls, 5 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1967
    Peak, #540
    303 babies named Missy — more than any year before or since.
  3. 1974
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #1,076.
  4. 1982
    Missy Peregrym born
    Canadian actress
  5. 1995
    Missy Franklin born
    American swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, world champion, world record-holder
In the dictionary
  • A diminutive of the female given name Melissa.
Namesakes
  • Missy Franklin · American swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, world champion, world record-holder, born 1995
  • Missy Peregrym · Canadian actress, born 1982
  • Missy Schwen-Ryan · American rower, born 1972
  • Missy Stone · American pornographic actress, born 1987
  • Missy Giove · American racing cyclist, born 1972

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.