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Nerissa

#10,677 in 2025Girls' name

Sea-nymph

Nerissa has been given to 1,977 babies in the U.S. since 1915. In 2025 it ranked #10,677 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 1979, with 73 recorded.

Babies named Nerissa, 2025

1 in 368,000

Nerissa over time, 1880–2025

Girls
02040608018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Nerissa: meaning, origin, and history

Sea-nymph

Ancient Greek

What Nerissa means

Nerissa means “sea-nymph”, associated with Nērēḯs.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

Coined by Shakespeare for The Merchant of Venice, apparently from Ancient Greek Νηρηΐς (Nērēḯs, “sea-nymph”).

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Nerissa (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Nerissa is used in English. Its origins include Ancient Greek.

Nerissa comes through Ancient Greek Νηρηΐς.

Nerissa is a modern formation.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Nerissa is pronounced /nəˈɹɪsə/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,977 girls were recorded with the name Nerissa between 1915 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 73 in 1979; its best national rank was #1,585 in 1979.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #11,826 in 2020 to #10,677 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #18,372 in 2015 to #10,677 in 2025.

How common is Nerissa?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 368,000
9 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 179,000
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#10,677
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
255,323 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Nerissa sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 255,323 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Nerissa. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Nerissas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Nerissa was born before 1983 — so the typical Nerissa is around 42 today.

Median birth year
1983
About 42 years old
Biggest decade
1980s
24.7% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
18.7%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
1,959
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1980s — 24.7% of all recorded uses (488).

Is Nerissa rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+4,110
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+1,149
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+7,695
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.80×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
12.3%
Peak was 1979 (73)
Years since peak
46
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
38.8% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,585
1979

Spellings of Nerissa

Nerissa is not the most common spelling — Melissa is, with 75.9% against Nerissa's 0.20%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Nerissa is used

Across 1910–2025, Nerissa was most concentrated in California — about 1 in 100,000 girls, against 1 in 163,123 across all states with data. It was least common in Washington (1 in —).

01 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in 100,000
  2. 2North Carolina1 in 100,000
  3. 3New York1 in 100,000
  4. 4Florida1 in —
  5. 5Illinois1 in —
  6. 6Michigan1 in —
  7. 7Pennsylvania1 in —
  8. 8Texas1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Nerissa has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Nerissa around the world

Where Nerissa ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2022
    #4,646
    in 2022
  • Canada
    1991–2006
    #2,129
    in 2006
  • South Australia
    1959–2012
    #871
    in 2012

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Nerissa by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#10,677
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 1,149
Best rank ever
#1,585
1979
Peak year
1979
73 that year
First recorded
1915
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
1,977
Count in 2025
9

Names similar to Nerissa

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

NereydaNeriahJalyssaHadassaJenessaNeriyahJalissaKalissaNereidaJulyssaYulissaJelissaCalissaAnyssaKalyssaArissaBrissaAnessaKlarissaAlessaTeressaAllyssaMelyssaCorissa

Sibling names for Nerissa

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Nerissa

Top names of 1979, Nerissa's peak yearThe 1970s in fullOther names that peaked in 1979Girls' names starting with NCoastal NamesWater-Inspired Girl Names