About Karissa
Karissa is an English variant of Charissa, ultimately connected with Greek charis, “grace” or “kindness.” Its modern spelling belongs to a family with older literary and classical roots. Contemporary bearers include distance runner Karissa Schweizer and scientist Karissa Sanbonmatsu.
Meaning and literary roots
Charissa is an elaboration of Charis. In ancient Greek, Charis was the singular name for one of the Graces, the group of divine figures known collectively as the Charites. The word's association with grace and kindness lies behind the modern name family.
Edmund Spenser used Charissa in The Faerie Queene, first published in 1590. That gives the longer form a Renaissance literary connection as well as a Greek background. Karissa preserves the same family through a different initial spelling.
Carissa is another close English variant. Charis is shorter, while Charissa and Karissa extend the name into three syllables. The Greek connection is historical; the modern k spelling does not give Karissa a separate ancient root.
Pronunciation and related forms
Karissa is pronounced kuh-RISS-uh in English, with stress on the middle syllable. Its initial k makes the hard consonant explicit, matching the ordinary English pronunciation of Charissa.
Charissa, Carissa, and Karissa are closely related forms. The middle stress and final unstressed a give them the same broad rhythm, even though their written beginnings differ.
Karissa Schweizer
Distance runner Karissa Schweizer won the NCAA women's cross-country championship in 2016 while competing for the University of Missouri. The victory made her the university's first female national champion in cross-country.
She also won the NCAA outdoor 5,000-meter title in 2017. By the end of her college career, her achievements included six national championships across cross-country and track. Missouri later named her its female athlete of the decade.
The range of events matters to her sporting association: cross-country racing and track competition are related, but distinct settings. Schweizer's results made the first name visible in both forms of distance running.
Karissa Sanbonmatsu
Scientist Karissa Sanbonmatsu leads research on RNA structure and dynamics at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Her work uses computer simulations alongside experimental approaches to investigate molecular systems.
Her research includes ribosomes, the machinery involved in making proteins, and non-coding RNA, which has important roles beyond serving as a template for protein production. The laboratory's work joins biophysics, structural biology, and high-performance computing.
Sanbonmatsu gives Karissa a scientific association alongside Schweizer’s sporting one. Her team brings experimental biochemistry together with the computing methods needed to study how large molecular structures move and work.
American popularity
Karissa reached its largest recorded American birth count for girls in 1991, with 901 births and a rank of No. 306. It was recorded for 649 girls in 2000 and 378 in 2010.
By 2025 the total had fallen to 58, ranked No. 2,915. Its American high lies in the early 1990s, with much rarer current use.
Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution
Existing Wiktionary material is attributed under CC BY-SA 4.0 where applicable. Popularity figures use the local Social Security Administration exact-spelling series; name-sex-year counts below five are omitted.
How popular is Karissa?
In 2025, Karissa ranked #2,915 among girls in the United States, with 58 recorded uses. The U.S. birth records first list this spelling for girls in 1961; its largest annual count was 901 in 1991. 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.