Every Girl Name

Girl's name

Melissa

Say it meh-LIS-uh

Greek origin bee, honey, or honeybee 3 syllables

Sister names Middle names Deal sisters

Where Melissa is loved, common and rare

Common across Italy, Sweden and one more place. Rare in Austria, Switzerland, four German cities and ten more places.

1 in 782 girls born in Ireland in 2025

Every place

In 19 of the 40 official lists, among them Italy (66th), Sweden (89th) and Austria (115th).

Show all 19 placesShow less
PlaceRankGirlsShare
Italy66th 20245831 in 307
Sweden89th 2025113about 1 in 355
Austria115th 2025571 in 627
Switzerland130th 2025591 in 576
Berlin city140th 202323about 1 in 631
Cologne city150th 20238about 1 in 768
Ireland173rd 2025271 in 782
Poland197th 2025391 in 3,071
Catalonia region249th 2025151 in 1,285
Norway259th 2025151 in 1,453
England and Wales321st 20251361 in 1,862
Ontario province339th 202437about 1 in 1,472
Quebec province363rd 202514about 1 in 1,857
France as Mélissa424th 20252301 in 1,247
The Netherlands440th 202529about 1 in 2,104
Scotland474th 202561 in 2,982
Rostock city62nd 20253about 1 in 328
Bonn city145th 20254about 1 in 754
Leipzig city344th 20251about 1 in 2,624

Rare, below the listed names: Northern Ireland, British Columbia, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, New Zealand, Munich, Spain, Hungary, Slovenia and Israel.

Not in a short top list, so no figure: Nova Scotia (top 21), Denmark (top 50), Finland (top 50), Iceland (top 10), Estonia (top 25), Moscow (top 61), Turkey (top 30), Argentina (top 20) and Croatia (top 50).

Germany publishes no national statistics on first names. German figures here are city lists (Berlin, Munich, Cologne, Bonn, Leipzig, Rostock), never the country.

Sources: ISTAT, Contanomi (Italy); Skatteverket (Swedish Tax Agency) (Sweden); Statistik Austria (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1) (Austria); Bundesamt für Statistik (BFS) / Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS) (Switzerland); BerlinOnline GmbH; Landesamt für Bürger- und Ordnungsangelegenheiten (LABO) / Standesämter (Berlin); Stadt Köln, Standesamt (offenedaten-koeln.de) (Cologne); Central Statistics Office (CSO) (Ireland); Ministerstwo Cyfryzacji, rejestr PESEL (dane.gov.pl) (Poland); Idescat (Institut d'Estadística de Catalunya) (Catalonia); Statistics Norway (SSB) (Norway); Office for National Statistics (England and Wales); Ontario Office of the Registrar General (Ontario Data Catalogue) (Ontario); Retraite Québec (Banque de prénoms, Données Québec) (Quebec); INSEE, Fichier des prénoms (édition 2025) (France); Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB) (the Netherlands); National Records of Scotland (Scotland); Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock (opendata-hro.de) (Rostock); Bundesstadt Bonn, Standesamt (opendata.bonn.de) (Bonn); Stadt Leipzig, Standesamt (opendata.leipzig.de) (Leipzig). How we count, and every source

About the name

From the Ancient Greek mélissa, Melissa means 'bee, honey, or honeybee'. In Ireland it has sometimes been used as a feminine form of the Gaelic Maol Íosa, literally 'servant of Jesus'.

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Three syllables, said meh-LIS-uh, with the stress in the middle. Missy is a traditional pet form. Mélissa is the French spelling, and Melisa and Mellissa are alternative forms.

French records show it at its height in 1991, and it was very familiar for years either side of it. Today it is used most in Italy, Sweden and Austria. In the English-speaking world it appears in Ireland, England and Wales, and Ontario, though it is declining in several of the regions where it is tracked, which ties it to that period.

Meaning, origin, pronunciation

Pronounced
meh-LIS-uh, 3 syllables
Meaning
bee, honey, or honeybee
Origin
Greek
Other spellings
  • Melisa
  • Melinda
  • Melitta
  • Malissa
  • Mellissa
  • Melissandre
  • Missy
  • Mellisa

Counted together here: Mélissa.

Etymology

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”).

From the Wiktionary entry, CC BY-SA 4.0, shortened.

Over time

Over five years: rising in 3 of 19 regions, falling in 8.

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Rank in each place since 1996; higher on the chart is more popular.

Italy 72nd 1999 to 66th 2024
1st10th100th1000th19962025
Sweden 123rd 1998 to 89th 2025
1st10th100th1000th19962025
Austria 60th 1996 to 115th 2025
1st10th100th1000th19962025
Switzerland 35th 2000 to 130th 2025
1st10th100th1000th19962025
Berlin 88th 2012 to 140th 2023
1st10th100th1000th19962025
Cologne 73rd 2010 to 150th 2023
1st10th100th1000th19962025

Ten years of ranks

Her rank each year, English-speaking regions first. A blank means no published rank for her that year.

Region2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
England and Wales219227222283237254267240280321
Scotland240220255267471558324365541474
Northern Ireland229355361281223266328
Ireland316205235247255160164202342173
Ontario390467519341352372328477339
British Columbia661518460375441299547
Quebec178183234290339343387322305363
France152162179187225291325408363424
The Netherlands465399419481615538681479440
Austria707974666574858093115
Switzerland67736167751008484122130
Berlin1111071299210411294140
Munich971306910177109157151117
Cologne16613215794160159111150
Bonn11911113481968299176223145
Leipzig192124100595898129215117344
Rostock10510720214162102122476862
Norway188168208208164186189234184259
Sweden647179799292899010189
Catalonia498327418323323227216229200249
Italy403742454951596266
Poland222263216204240247232208184197
Estonia1122

England and Wales, 1996 to 2025

YearRankGirlsper 100,000 girls
202532113653.7
202428016062.0
202324018973.7
202226717164.9
202125418868.6
202023719773.4
201928317361.8
201822222979.4
201722722474.9
201621923977.8
201522423074.7
201422123275.7
201322921971.0
201219226682.6
201119726080.9
2010153344107.2
2009138400127.6
2008135398126.0
2007132420137.2
2006107491164.1
2005102494171.4
200483618216.2
200384610218.9
200287621232.3
200174718267.9
200068755276.4
199958863306.4
1998541,009348.9
1997471,180402.5
1996461,282433.1

Sources: Office for National Statistics (1996-2025), OGL v3.

France since 1925

Half of the babies named Melissa in France since 1925 were born in or after 1997. First recorded in 1956. Her peak year there: 1991, at 866.6 per 100,000 girls.

05001,0001940196019802000202005001,00019602000

Babies named Melissa per 100,000 girls born in France, by five-year period. Her 1991 peak is averaged into its five-year period, so the line sits below it.

Sources: INSEE, Fichier des prénoms (édition 2025) (1900-2025), Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0.

Sister names for Melissa

  1. 1 in 1,041 in Northern Ireland

  2. 1 in 754 in Ireland

  3. 1 in 660 in Ireland

  4. 1 in 5,964 in Scotland

  5. 1 in 1,625 in Ireland

  6. 1 in 571 in Ireland

  7. 1 in 1,760 in Ireland

  8. 1 in 778 in Scotland

  9. 1 in 1,193 in Scotland

  10. 1 in 852 in Scotland

All sister names for MelissaDeal more sisters

Middle names for Melissa

  1. 1 in 107 in Northern Ireland

  2. 1 in 86 in Ireland

  3. 1 in 57 in Northern Ireland

  4. 1 in 71 in Scotland

  5. 1 in 132 in Northern Ireland

  6. 1 in 214 in Northern Ireland

  7. 1 in 102 in Ireland

  8. 1 in 173 in Northern Ireland

All middle names for MelissaDeal more middle names

Same style as Melissa

Names whose popularity rose and fell with hers across regions and decades.

  1. 1 in 1,921 in Ireland

  2. 1 in 2,347 in Ireland

  3. 1 in 2,641 in Ireland

  4. 1 in 4,225 in Ireland

  5. 1 in 660 in Ireland

  6. 1 in 1,760 in Ireland

  7. 1 in 2,556 in Scotland

  8. 1 in 5,964 in Scotland

Deal more in this style

Famous people named Melissa

Melissa Leo, Melissa Joan Hart, Melissa Benoist, Melissa Rauch, Melissa George, Melissa McBride, Melissa Gilbert and Melissa Etheridge.

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People: Wikidata (CC0), linked to Wikipedia in this page's language when an article exists.

Questions about Melissa

5 questions, on how popular she is, what it means, how to say it, whether she is rising and sister names.

Show all 5 questionsShow less
How popular is Melissa?

Her best rank is No. 66 in Italy in 2024, about 1 in 307 girls. She is in the published lists of 19 of our 40 regions.

What does Melissa mean?

Wiktionary glosses Melissa as "bee, honey, or honeybee".

How do you pronounce Melissa?

meh-LIS-uh, with 3 syllables.

Is Melissa getting more popular?

Over five years: rising in 3 of 19 regions, falling in 8.

Which sister names go with Melissa?

The deck's top five sisters for Melissa: Anastasia, Helena, Alexandra, Melanie and Selena. Each is scored on style, era, popularity and origin, with sound clashes flagged.

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