Clarissa
Clarissa was the 1114th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 212 babies. Its best year was 1994, when it ranked 237th; the most babies were born in 1995 (1,201). Over the last ten years it has moved down 417 places. More babies were named Clarissa in the 1990s than in any other decade.
Meaning "bright, clear" · Latin, Italian
Say it kluh-RIS-uh /kləˈrɪsə/
- Rank in 2025
- #1,114 girls, down 203 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 212girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 19951,201 babies
- Total since 1880
- 40,505babies recorded
What does the name Clarissa mean?
Clarissa is a Latin and Italian name based on clara, "clear, bright", the name of Saint Clare of Assisi; the related French forms are Clarisse and Clarice. DMNES glosses Clarice as "shining, gleaming". Wiktionary credits its popularity in English to Samuel Richardson's 1748 novel Clarissa. It was most popular in the US in the 1990s.
clara (Latin, “clear, bright”)
How sure is this? Well established.
Related names: Clarice, Clara, Clare, Clarisse.
See also: Latin names, names that mean light.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Clarissa', Wiktionary (Wikimedia Foundation)
- Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, ed. S. L. Uckelman, Edition 2023 no. 1, s.v. 'Clara', DMNES (Durham University)
- Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, ed. S. L. Uckelman, Edition 2023 no. 1, s.v. 'Clarice', DMNES (Durham University)
- Wikipedia, 'Clarissa (given name)', Wikipedia (Wikimedia Foundation)
Nicknames for Clarissa
The usual nicknames for Clarissa are Clara and Rissa. Some parents skip the long form: for every 100 girls named Clarissa in the last five years, 1266 were named Clara, against 132 twenty years earlier.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Girls, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clara | Traditional | #63 | 14,581 |
| Rissa · also for Marissa | Traditional | — | — |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Clarissas go by each one.
Clarissa popularity since 1880
A few boys are given the name too: 21 since 1985.
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #1,114 | 212 |
| 2020 | #911 | 287 |
| 2010 | #550 | 530 |
| 2000 | #326 | 975 |
| 1990 | #322 | 853 |
| 1980 | #489 | 423 |
| 1970 | #567 | 321 |
| 1960 | #713 | 204 |
| 1950 | #937 | 91 |
| 1940 | #936 | 59 |
| 1930 | #1,033 | 51 |
| 1920 | #808 | 81 |
| 1910 | #834 | 27 |
| 1900 | #836 | 20 |
| 1890 | #525 | 25 |
| 1880 | #552 | 10 |
How popular is Clarissa, counting every spelling?
Clarissa is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #957 for girls in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #1,114 for Clarissa on its own. Together these spellings went to 253 girls in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clarissa | 212 | #1,114 | 1,152 |
| Klarissa | 20 | #6,024 | 136 |
| Clarisa | 21 | #5,758 | 72 |
Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.
How many kids will share the name Clarissa?
212 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Clarissa (0.06 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Clarissa born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 40 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Clarissa.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Clarissa?
About 36,600 people born in the US named Clarissa are alive today, with a median age of 31; half are between 22 and 42. That makes Clarissa mostly worn by adults in their thirties to fifties.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Clarissa by state
How common Clarissa was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in California (2.2×), Texas (2.1×), Arizona (1.9×). In 32 states fewer than five girls a year got the name, too few for SSA to publish, so those states show as zero.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Clarissa: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Clarissa, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Clarissa · Sibling names for Clarissa
Questions about the name Clarissa
What does Clarissa mean?
Clarissa means “"bright, clear"” (Latin, Italian origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Clarissa?
Clarissa was the 1114th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 212 babies. Its best year was 1994, when it ranked 237th; the most babies were born in 1995 (1,201). Over the last ten years it has moved down 417 places. More babies were named Clarissa in the 1990s than in any other decade.
Is Clarissa a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Clarissa in the US.
Where is Clarissa most popular?
In 2021–2025, Clarissa was most common in California (0.31 per 1,000 girls), followed by Texas and Arizona.