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Melissa Name Popularity

    

Charts | Table | About | By Year

How popular is Melissa?

In 2018 the somewhat popular name Melissa, ranked the 297th Most Popular Girls Name in the United States.

Presently one of the top 500 most popular, Melissa has been less popular than the top 1000 in the past.

It reached its highest popularity ranking of #2 for the first time in 1977 and as recently as 1979 with 34,052 occurrences.

The least amount of newborns dubbed Melissa in any given year was 22 in 1906.

Melissa, decisively moved upwards in popularity around the years 1904-1907, 1911-1915, 1934-1943, 1944-1970, and 1974-1979, whereas clearly downward trends happened around 1888-1891, 1979-2011, and 2012-2016.

Melissa's popularity has been spiralling downward for some time. In recent years, continuing the trend, the number of babies given the name Melissa has dropped.

What does the future hold for the popularity of Melissa?

Melissa's popularity is at an extremely low point when measured against its most notable year.

The name Melissa is favored by many parents but will probably continue to drift downward in popularity.

Relative to what it once was, Melissa is much less frequently used as a given name.

*Mouse over the charts or scroll down to the table for data details.

 
Mouse over or Click for Percentages.
   Melissa (Girl)Melissa (Boy)
Year %No. of Babies Given NamePopul. RankNo. of Babies Given NamePopul. Rank
2018 1,114 297 < 5 --
2017 1,169 274 < 5 --
2016 1,234 258 < 5 --
2015 1,281 253 5 13,348
2014 1,506 224 < 5 --
2013 1,591 202 < 5 --
2012 1,771 178 < 5 --
2011 1,708 184 < 5 --
2010 1,949 156 < 5 --
2009 2,335 137 < 5 --
2008 2,516 134 7 10,637
2007 2,503 137 6 11,861
2006 2,892 117 5 13,346
2005 3,084 104 11 6,946
2004 3,335 98 7 9,593
2003 3,501 96 8 8,349
2002 3,767 80 8 8,184
2001 4,145 74 12 5,896
2000 4,529 71 8 7,938
1999 4,830 64 18 4,101
1998 5,354 59 19 3,802
1997 6,679 44 20 3,546
1996 7,169 42 15 4,319
1995 7,877 35 21 3,267
1994 8,798 31 25 2,911
1993 10,223 30 32 2,378
1992 11,710 24 39 2,026
1991 13,344 20 27 2,582
1990 13,998 20 49 1,678
1989 15,203 19 77 1,227
1988 16,544 16 73 1,183
1987 17,674 13 74 1,120
1986 17,662 12 84 1,013
1985 19,956 11 85 995
1984 21,891 8 83 981
1983 23,473 6 101 874
1982 25,867 5 109 851
1981 28,000 5 97 910
1980 31,636 4 138 747
1979 34,052 2 129 764
1978 28,330 2 101 857
1977 26,886 2 92 890
1976 25,095 3 88 887
1975 24,165 4 92 869
1974 22,166 7 86 869
1973 22,480 6 78 909
1972 22,503 7 84 883
1971 23,869 7 75 946
1970 23,737 7 70 964
1969 23,020 5 69 918
1968 21,727 5 61 936
1967 18,379 9 43 1,146
1966 14,252 22 37 1,254
1965 10,565 38 26 1,546
1964 8,317 53 18 1,952
1963 7,320 61 25 1,620
1962 6,308 68 10 2,785
1961 4,902 95 9 3,028
1960 4,415 109 9 3,012
1959 3,627 126 11 2,623
1958 3,326 129 11 2,594
1957 2,777 147 < 5 --
1956 2,527 150 9 2,902
1955 2,414 149 < 5 --
1954 2,061 170 < 5 --
1953 2,005 164 < 5 --
1952 1,442 201 < 5 --
1951 1,130 229 < 5 --
1950 980 240 < 5 --
1949 780 276 < 5 --
1948 600 318 < 5 --
1947 319 459 < 5 --
1946 198 567 < 5 --
1945 186 533 < 5 --
1944 177 542 < 5 --
1943 189 548 < 5 --
1942 154 599 < 5 --
1941 141 594 < 5 --
1940 95 716 < 5 --
1939 116 631 < 5 --
1938 85 754 < 5 --
1937 90 718 < 5 --
1936 56 919 < 5 --
1935 63 872 < 5 --
1934 43 1,071 < 5 --
1933 51 968 < 5 --
1932 62 896 < 5 --
1931 43 1,087 < 5 --
1930 57 976 < 5 --
1929 42 1,147 < 5 --
1928 43 1,174 < 5 --
1927 44 1,169 < 5 --
1926 46 1,125 < 5 --
1925 55 1,017 < 5 --
1924 53 1,075 < 5 --
1923 51 1,074 < 5 --
1922 68 889 < 5 --
1921 66 917 < 5 --
1920 59 957 < 5 --
1919 49 1,034 < 5 --
1918 63 909 < 5 --
1917 54 950 < 5 --
1916 64 854 < 5 --
1915 67 805 < 5 --
1914 52 814 < 5 --
1913 47 772 < 5 --
1912 42 776 < 5 --
1911 31 785 < 5 --
1910 47 614 < 5 --
1909 33 702 < 5 --
1908 27 753 < 5 --
1907 38 611 < 5 --
1906 22 787 < 5 --
1905 30 650 < 5 --
1904 24 719 < 5 --
1903 35 553 < 5 --
1902 40 505 < 5 --
1901 34 527 < 5 --
1900 40 536 < 5 --
1899 47 427 < 5 --
1898 35 539 < 5 --
1897 35 495 < 5 --
1896 30 562 < 5 --
1895 41 448 < 5 --
1894 52 392 < 5 --
1893 53 372 < 5 --
1892 34 469 < 5 --
1891 30 474 < 5 --
1890 42 390 < 5 --
1889 46 355 < 5 --
1888 40 384 < 5 --
1887 34 370 < 5 --
1886 58 274 < 5 --
1885 45 299 < 5 --
1884 48 279 < 5 --
1883 42 276 < 5 --
1882 41 276 < 5 --
1881 40 256 < 5 --
1880 33 274 < 5 --

United States name popularity data is provided by the Social Security Administration and is based on Social Security card applications.

Data for a given year is not made available until well into the next year.

Data reflects what was recorded and has not been edited for errors, so for example the gender associated with a name may be incorrect.

The more babies that are given a particular name, the higher the popularity ranking. If multiple names have the same usage, the tie is broken by assigning popularity rank in alphabetical order. Therefore in the case of names with fewer occurrences, names with the same number of occurrences may have vastly different rankings because they will be interranked alphabetically.

To safeguard privacy, the SSA does not include names with less than 5 occurrences.

Please note, we update the data each May when the SSA releases new figures. All data changes at that time, including previous years, which will change minutely based on new information.