US baby names · Girls · 1880–2025
Melissa: name popularity by year
How often US parents chose Melissa for a baby girl, year by year, from Social Security Administration records. When it peaked, how long it stayed in the top 10, and which generation it belongs to.
Melissa was one of the 10 most common girls' names in the US in 18 years, between 1967 and 1984, reaching #2. Births peaked in 1979, when 34,050 baby girls were named Melissa, so by peak year it is a Generation X name.
Melissa in the US top 10, by year
Rank among girls' names, #1 at the top. Blank years: outside the top 10. Dashed line: the year with the most babies named Melissa (1979).
Top-10 years by generation
| Generation | Years in top 10 | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| Generation X | 14 (1967–1980) | #2 |
| Millennials | 4 (1981–1984) | #5 |
Questions people ask
When was the name Melissa most popular?
By number of babies, in 1979, when 34,050 girls were given the name. By rank, it reached #2 and spent 18 years in the top 10.
What generation is the name Melissa?
Its peak year, 1979, falls in Generation X (1965–1980). Its 18 top-10 years fall in: Generation X (14), Millennials (4).
How many people have been named Melissa?
SSA counted 760,128 girls named Melissa born from 1880 to 2025. That is births, not people alive today, and it misses many people born before 1937 who never applied for a Social Security card.
In the top 10 at the same time
Source: US Social Security Administration baby-name data, from Social Security card applications for births in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, 1880–2025. Many people born before 1937 never applied for a card, so early years undercount. Spellings are counted separately. We hold each year's top 10 in rank order and each name's peak-year and all-time counts, so the chart shows rank rather than births per year. This page gives no meaning or origin for the name and no estimate of how many people named Melissa are alive today.