Melissa has been given to about 762,623 people in the United States since 1880. It was most common in 1979, which makes it a boomer-era name.
Melissa ranks 420th among American girls in 2025, with 747 born that year. Its best year was 1979, when 34,179 babies were given the name, ranking 2nd. The typical living American called Melissa is about 47 years old today. It is relatively most common in Massachusetts, where it accounts for 0.06% of births.
Source: US Social Security Administration, national and state name files, 2025 release, and the Office for National Statistics for England and Wales. Etymology researched and written by our editors. Living-population and median-age figures are our own estimates, described in the methodology.