Larissa

About Larissa

Larissa is a Greek-rooted name connected with an ancient city, a mythological nymph, and an Eastern Christian saint. Its proposed place-name meaning is “citadel,” although the connection is not certain. The spelling also belongs to a moon of Neptune, while gymnast Larissa Latynina gives it an important sporting association.

Greek history and related forms

Larissa may come from Larisa, the city in Thessaly. The city's name has been interpreted as “citadel.” The same name appears in Greek myth, where the nymph Larisa is described in different accounts as either the mother or daughter of Pelasgus.

A fourth-century martyr called Larisa is venerated in the Eastern Church. That religious tradition helped the name travel beyond its original Greek setting.

Larissa is a common Latinized spelling with a double s. Larisa is used in Russian and several other European languages, while Ukrainian is often represented in English as Larysa. Lara is a familiar short form in this family, though Lara also has other naming histories.

English use of Larissa became common only in the twentieth century, following borrowing from Russian. Its ancient background and more recent English adoption therefore belong to different stages of the name's story.

Larissa Latynina and gymnastics

Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina, also widely written Larissa in English, won eighteen Olympic medals between 1956 and 1964. She competed at Melbourne, Rome, and Tokyo, taking six medals at each Games.

Her total included nine gold medals, five silvers, and four bronzes. The balance between team and individual events shows the breadth of her success across the sport.

Latynina's eighteen medals stood as the overall Olympic record until the London Games in 2012. Her name consequently became familiar far beyond gymnastics, appearing whenever the history of Olympic achievement was discussed.

A moon of Neptune

Larissa is also one of Neptune's small moons. It was first observed from Earth in 1981 and identified by the Voyager 2 science team in 1989.

The moon is dark, irregularly shaped, and heavily cratered. It orbits near Neptune's faint ring system, completing a circuit in roughly thirteen hours and twenty minutes.

Its name honours the Greek nymph. That astronomical use extends the mythological association into modern planetary science, giving Larissa a specific celestial connection alongside its human history.

Pronunciation and familiar forms

In English, Larissa is pronounced luh-RISS-uh, with stress on the middle syllable. The double s represents a clear s sound, and the final vowel is light.

Lara is an established familiar form. Larisa keeps the name with one s, while Larysa uses a different vowel spelling associated with Ukrainian transcription. The full form's three syllables give it a longer rhythm than Lara while retaining the same opening.

American popularity

Larissa reached its American peak for girls in 1994, with 715 births and a rank of #363. It remained in regular use in 2000, when 561 girls received it.

The count declined to 368 in 2010. In 2025, 126 American girls received Larissa, placing it at #1,646. Its strongest American generation was therefore born in the late twentieth century.

How popular is Larissa?

In 2025, Larissa ranked #1,646 among girls in the United States, with 126 recorded uses. The U.S. birth records first list this spelling for girls in 1946; its largest annual count was 715 in 1994. 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.