Given name & surname · also Gaelic
Melissa
“bee, honey, or honeybee”
Melissa combines the Greek word for “bee” with literary and Irish naming associations.
Original GreekΜέλισσα
Meaning & origin
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Greek.
How it developed
The name draws on Greek melissa, meaning “bee”.
The story
In Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso, Melissa is the benevolent witch who frees Rogero from Alcina. Separately, Melissa has also been used in Ireland as an English form of Maoilíosa; the two contexts should not be collapsed into one origin.
Melissa through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 762,623
- 2,495 boys · 760,128 girls
- Most popular year
- 1979
- 34,179 babies
- 2025
- 747
- #420 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −26%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 747 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 420 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 25.6% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for girls was 34,050 in 1979. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for girls with this name (160). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 675,224 as a first name in 2020; 227 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Melissa’s family of names
In English usage, Melissa has a diminutive in Misty. In Finnish usage, Melissa developed from the Ancient Greek form Μέλισσα. In Polish usage, Melissa has a related form in Melisa.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Melissa has relatives in 10 languages. Lines run from its Ancient Greek roots to each of them.
Ancient Greekwhere Melissa comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 27
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Melinashort form · German
- Melisavariant · Polish, English
- Mistynickname · English
- Meldiminutive · English
- Missydiminutive · English
- Melliediminutive · English
- Lissashort form
- Malissavariant · English
Show 19 moreShow fewer
- Melizavariant
- Mellyvariant
- Melisssalikely variant
- Isaydiminutive · Tagalog
- Mellissavariant · English
- Melittavariant · German, English
- Milisavariant
- Mellisavariant · English
- Melissevariant · English
- Melisevariant · English
- Melessavariant · English
- Melesavariant · English
- Mallissavariant · English
- Melitavariant · English
- Melishavariant · English
- Meliciavariant · English
- Melaydiminutive · ceb
- Melosavariant · English
- Melyttavariant · English
Spellings & scripts 4
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 10
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- Μέλισσαroot · Greek, Ancient Greek
- Melisequivalent
- Mariseequivalent
- Melissandreequivalent
- Μέλιτταequivalent
- Мэрысэequivalent
- MélissaFrench
- Maoilíosaoriginal
Show 2 moreShow fewer
See also 1
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Melissa
- Melissa McCarthyAmerican actress and comedian (born 1970)
- Melissa LeoAmerican actressborn 1960
- Missy ElliottAmerican rapper (born 1971)
- Melissa Joan HartAmerican actressborn 1976
- LizzoAmerican singer and rapper (born 1988)
- Melissa BenoistAmerican actress and singerborn 1988
- Melissa RauchAmerican actressborn 1980
- Melissa GeorgeAustralian actressborn 1976
- Missy FranklinAmerican swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, world champion, world record-holderborn 1995
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Melissa, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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