Meaning & origin
A reliable meaning for Janissa isn’t established in our sources yet. Rather than guess, we show what is recorded: how the name is used, how often, and the names it’s connected to.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1977. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Janissa through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 519
- 0 boys · 519 girls
- Most popular year
- 1994
- 27 babies
- 2025
- 5
- #15,904 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 5 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 15,904 among girls’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Its largest published annual count for girls was 27 in 1994. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 476 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Janissa’s family of names
Janissa may belong to the same name family as Janisa. This is a tentative spelling connection.
Inner ring: spellings · outer: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 2
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Similar names
If you love Janissa, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.