Popularity of the name Melissa, 1880–2025
Melissa was at its most popular in 1979, when 34,050 girls were given the name: about 1 in 47 girls born in the U.S. that year, ranking #2. In 2025, 747 girls were named Melissa, ranking #419. In all, Social Security counts 760,128 girls named Melissa since 1880. Social Security’s records also list 2,495 boys named Melissa.
- Peak year
- 1979
- Rank in 1979
- #2
- Babies in 1979
- 34,050
- Rank in 2025
- #419
- Total since 1880
- 760,128
Where it stands now
Over the last ten years it has slipped from #253 in 2015 to #419 in 2025, with 1,283 girls named Melissa in 2015 and 747 in 2025.
Decade by decade
Melissa ranked highest in the 1970s, at #3, with 253,267 girls given the name that decade. It ranked #305 in the 1880s and #386 in the 2020s so far.
Every 20 years in the records: 33 in 1880 (#271), 40 in 1900 (#531), 59 in 1920 (#949), 95 in 1940 (#714), 4,412 in 1960 (#109), 31,629 in 1980 (#4), 4,532 in 2000 (#71) and 887 in 2020 (#349).
Highs and lows
The most girls given the name in a single year was 34,050, in 1979. Its best rank in any year was #2, first reached in 1977.
Every year
The table lists every year from 1880 to 2025 in which Social Security recorded at least 5 girls named Melissa, with the name’s rank that year.
| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 33 | #271 |
| 1881 | 40 | #251 |
| 1882 | 41 | #271 |
| 1883 | 42 | #274 |
| 1884 | 48 | #277 |
| 1885 | 45 | #296 |
| 1886 | 58 | #274 |
| 1887 | 34 | #367 |
| 1888 | 40 | #380 |
| 1889 | 46 | #353 |
| 1890 | 42 | #384 |
| 1891 | 30 | #471 |
| 1892 | 34 | #465 |
| 1893 | 53 | #370 |
| 1894 | 52 | #390 |
| 1895 | 41 | #440 |
| 1896 | 30 | #553 |
| 1897 | 35 | #491 |
| 1898 | 35 | #527 |
| 1899 | 47 | #424 |
| 1900 | 40 | #531 |
| 1901 | 34 | #520 |
| 1902 | 40 | #502 |
| 1903 | 35 | #549 |
| 1904 | 24 | #710 |
| 1905 | 30 | #642 |
| 1906 | 22 | #776 |
| 1907 | 38 | #601 |
| 1908 | 27 | #742 |
| 1909 | 33 | #691 |
| 1910 | 47 | #610 |
| 1911 | 31 | #777 |
| 1912 | 42 | #770 |
| 1913 | 47 | #767 |
| 1914 | 52 | #802 |
| 1915 | 67 | #802 |
| 1916 | 64 | #848 |
| 1917 | 54 | #945 |
| 1918 | 63 | #900 |
| 1919 | 49 | #1,026 |
| 1920 | 59 | #949 |
| 1921 | 66 | #914 |
| 1922 | 68 | #888 |
| 1923 | 50 | #1,076 |
| 1924 | 53 | #1,069 |
| 1925 | 55 | #1,008 |
| 1926 | 46 | #1,115 |
| 1927 | 44 | #1,161 |
| 1928 | 43 | #1,163 |
| 1929 | 42 | #1,137 |
| 1930 | 57 | #971 |
| 1931 | 43 | #1,074 |
| 1932 | 62 | #891 |
| 1933 | 51 | #957 |
| 1934 | 43 | #1,062 |
| 1935 | 63 | #866 |
| 1936 | 56 | #909 |
| 1937 | 90 | #717 |
| 1938 | 85 | #749 |
| 1939 | 116 | #628 |
| 1940 | 95 | #714 |
| 1941 | 141 | #592 |
| 1942 | 154 | #599 |
| 1943 | 189 | #545 |
| 1944 | 177 | #542 |
| 1945 | 186 | #532 |
| 1946 | 198 | #566 |
| 1947 | 319 | #460 |
| 1948 | 600 | #317 |
| 1949 | 778 | #276 |
| 1950 | 980 | #240 |
| 1951 | 1,129 | #229 |
| 1952 | 1,442 | #201 |
| 1953 | 2,007 | #163 |
| 1954 | 2,062 | #170 |
| 1955 | 2,416 | #149 |
| 1956 | 2,527 | #150 |
| 1957 | 2,780 | #147 |
| 1958 | 3,323 | #130 |
| 1959 | 3,627 | #127 |
| 1960 | 4,412 | #109 |
| 1961 | 4,900 | #95 |
| 1962 | 6,306 | #68 |
| 1963 | 7,321 | #61 |
| 1964 | 8,318 | #53 |
| 1965 | 10,563 | #38 |
| 1966 | 14,254 | #22 |
| 1967 | 18,377 | #9 |
| 1968 | 21,733 | #5 |
| 1969 | 23,018 | #5 |
| 1970 | 23,735 | #7 |
| 1971 | 23,875 | #7 |
| 1972 | 22,494 | #7 |
| 1973 | 22,479 | #6 |
| 1974 | 22,166 | #7 |
| 1975 | 24,168 | #4 |
| 1976 | 25,094 | #3 |
| 1977 | 26,879 | #2 |
| 1978 | 28,327 | #2 |
| 1979 | 34,050 | #2 |
| 1980 | 31,629 | #4 |
| 1981 | 28,005 | #5 |
| 1982 | 25,864 | #5 |
| 1983 | 23,475 | #6 |
| 1984 | 21,896 | #8 |
| 1985 | 19,963 | #11 |
| 1986 | 17,667 | #12 |
| 1987 | 17,674 | #13 |
| 1988 | 16,546 | #16 |
| 1989 | 15,203 | #19 |
| 1990 | 14,000 | #20 |
| 1991 | 13,348 | #20 |
| 1992 | 11,710 | #24 |
| 1993 | 10,225 | #30 |
| 1994 | 8,795 | #31 |
| 1995 | 7,879 | #35 |
| 1996 | 7,170 | #42 |
| 1997 | 6,679 | #44 |
| 1998 | 5,354 | #59 |
| 1999 | 4,830 | #64 |
| 2000 | 4,532 | #71 |
| 2001 | 4,145 | #74 |
| 2002 | 3,769 | #80 |
| 2003 | 3,502 | #96 |
| 2004 | 3,339 | #98 |
| 2005 | 3,085 | #104 |
| 2006 | 2,893 | #117 |
| 2007 | 2,505 | #137 |
| 2008 | 2,517 | #134 |
| 2009 | 2,338 | #137 |
| 2010 | 1,951 | #156 |
| 2011 | 1,709 | #184 |
| 2012 | 1,772 | #178 |
| 2013 | 1,592 | #202 |
| 2014 | 1,509 | #224 |
| 2015 | 1,283 | #253 |
| 2016 | 1,236 | #260 |
| 2017 | 1,170 | #274 |
| 2018 | 1,117 | #299 |
| 2019 | 933 | #340 |
| 2020 | 887 | #349 |
| 2021 | 836 | #372 |
| 2022 | 823 | #379 |
| 2023 | 744 | #411 |
| 2024 | 826 | #379 |
| 2025 | 747 | #419 |
How these numbers are counted
Social Security publishes, for every year since 1880, how many babies of each sex were given each name, counting any name given to at least 5. A name’s rank is its place that year among names for the same sex, by number of babies. Names with the same count share a rank here, while Social Security’s own lists break ties alphabetically, so a rank can differ from theirs by a place or two. A name’s share is the number of babies given it divided by all babies of that sex in the data that year, and its peak is the year that share was highest. Shares rather than counts set the peak, because far more babies were born in some years than others: counting babies alone would pull nearly every name’s peak toward the 1946–1964 baby boom.
Source: the U.S. Social Security Administration’s national baby name data, from Social Security card applications for babies born in the U.S. A name is left out of a year when fewer than 5 babies of one sex got it, and counts before about 1937 are incomplete, because many people born then never applied for a card. See how Baby Boom builds its data. Figures may contain errors.