Carissa

About Carissa

Carissa is an English form of Charissa, ultimately connected with Greek charis, meaning “grace” or “kindness.” Its three syllables give it a flowing sound with a clear middle stress. The name’s family has a Renaissance literary connection, while surfer Carissa Moore gives the exact spelling a prominent place in modern sport.

Meaning and literary background

Charissa is an expanded form of Charis. In ancient Greek, a Charis was one of the Graces, the figures collectively known as the Charites. The root word’s meanings of grace and kindness lie behind the modern given name.

Edmund Spenser used Charissa in The Faerie Queene, first published in 1590. Carissa is an alternative spelling of that form, and Karissa is another variant. Charis keeps the shorter Greek shape, while Charissa and Carissa add a softer, longer ending.

The relationship is visible in the middle of the name: all preserve the ris sound, although the initial letters differ. Carissa is pronounced kuh-RISS-uh, with the stress on the second syllable. Its opening c has a k sound.

Carissa Moore and Olympic surfing

Carissa Moore won the first Olympic gold medal in women’s surfing at the Tokyo 2020 Games, whose surfing competition took place in July 2021. She defeated South Africa’s Bianca Buitendag in the final at Tsurigasaki Surfing Beach in Japan. The victory came as surfing made its Olympic debut.

Raised in Honolulu, Moore began surfing with her father at five. Her world championship titles came in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2019, and 2021. She returned for the Paris 2024 Games and finished fifth in the women’s shortboard event.

Moore also founded the Moore Aloha Charitable Foundation in 2018, using surfing as a way to bring young women together. Her career gives Carissa a connection with both elite competition and the community surrounding the sport, extending its associations well beyond its literary name family.

A botanical namesake

Carissa is also the scientific name of a plant genus. Its species include Carissa spinarum, a shrub with fragrant flowers and berry-like fruits. The botanical name provides a separate association for the spelling: it is a plant name in its own right, alongside the established personal name derived from Charissa.

The plant’s flowers may be white or purplish, and its fruit develops a dark reddish color when mature. That living botanical connection adds a concrete natural image to a spelling otherwise most clearly associated with the Greek family of grace names.

American popularity

Carissa’s strongest American year for girls was 1992, when it ranked #240 with 1,155 births. It was still given to 685 girls in 2000, before declining to 324 in 2010.

In 2025, forty-six girls received the name, ranking #3,348. Its American peak therefore came before Moore’s Olympic career, during a period when the spelling was substantially more common than it is today.

How popular is Carissa?

In 2025, Carissa ranked #3,348 among girls in the United States, with 46 recorded uses. The U.S. birth records first list this spelling for girls in 1949; its largest annual count was 1,155 in 1992. Rankings count each spelling separately. They describe national use, so local familiarity can differ. The popularity chart shows whether the name has remained common, returned after a quieter period, or risen recently.