Feminine dossier · first seen 1880
Melissa
Endangered
Down 97.8% from peak
Peak era
1979
Peak births
34,050
Current vitality
Fragile
Peak generation
Gen X
Quick answers about Melissa
How many people are named Melissa?
An estimated 691,012 living Americans are named Melissa.
How rare is Melissa?
Melissa is moderately uncommon among babies today, with 747 girls receiving the name in 2025, down 97.8% from its 1979 peak.
How old is the typical Melissa?
The median age of a living American named Melissa is approximately 46 years, with most bearers falling between 39 and 54 years old.
Is Melissa still popular?
No. Melissa is endangered as a baby name, down 97.8% from its 1979 peak with 747 births in 2025.
Where is Melissa most common?
Melissa has its strongest geographic signal in California, where it appears 2.3× more often than the national baseline.
1880Peak 19792025
Peak year
1979
Decline from peak
97.8%
2025
747
All-time
760,128
Where it lives now
Melissa is most concentrated in California — about 2.3× the national rate in the 2010s.
States where Melissa is given more often than the national average — its present-day heartland.