Clarissa
Clarissa is a female given name borrowed from Latin, Italian, and Portuguese,. It is a combination of St. Clare of Assisi's Latin name Clara and the suffix -issa, equivalent to -ess. Clarice is an anglicization of Clarisse, the French form of the same name. Clarisa is the Spanish form of the name, and Klárisza the Hungarian. The given names Clara, Clare, and Claire are all cognates.
- English
- Italian
Meaning & Origin of Clarissa
What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures.
Clarissa is a female given name borrowed from Latin, Italian, and Portuguese,. It is a combination of St. Clare of Assisi's Latin name Clara and the suffix -issa, equivalent to -ess. Clarice is an anglicization of Clarisse, the French form of the same name. Clarisa is the Spanish form of the name, and Klárisza the Hungarian. The given names Clara, Clare, and Claire are all cognates.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0). Read more →
Cultural Origins (via Behind the Name)
- English
- Italian
The Story of Clarissa
Clarissa first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a baby girl name in 1880, with 10 babies given the name that year. The name hit its high-water mark in 1995: 1,201 births, good for #239 nationwide. The 1990s were its strongest decade, accounting for roughly 26% of all recorded Clarissas. In the latest 2026 data it stands at #1,259 among baby girl names with 183 births, falling sharply (-40%). In total, more than 41K Clarissas have been born in the U.S. since records began in 1880, spanning the 1880s through the 2020s.
Popularity Over Time
Popularity by State
Variants & Related Forms of Clarissa
Foreign forms, alternate spellings, and nicknames that share roots with Clarissa. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.
Notable people named Clarissa
A small selection from Wikipedia. Tap "Read more" below to see the full list on Wikipedia.
- Clara Barton (Clarissa Harlowe Barton, 1821–1912), American humanitarian who founded the American Red Cross
- Clarissa Britain (1816–1895), American inventor
- Clarissa Danforth (1792-1855), first woman ordained as a Free Will Baptist minister
- Clarissa Davis (born 1967), American coach and women's basketball hall-of-famer
- Clarissa Dickson Wright (1947–2014), English celebrity chef
- Clarissa F. Dye (1832–1921), Civil War nurse from Philadelphia
- Clarissa Eden, Countess of Avon (1920–2021)
- Clarissa Pinkola Estés (born 1945), American writer and Jungian psychoanalyst
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0). Read more →
Names that sound like Clarissa
Phonetically similar names — useful when Clarissa is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.
Source: Datamuse . Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated.
Frequently Asked Questions about Clarissa
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About the name Clarissa
Clarissa is a girl baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1880 and has accumulated 41K births in the dataset. Clarissa's peak popularity came in 1995 when it ranked #237. Use the chart and map above to compare Clarissa's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices.
Continue exploring
- Top names of 1995 →
- Names of the 1990s →
- Names starting with "C" →
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- Top names of 2026 →
Data sources
- Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. Social Security Administration . Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships.
- Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — Behind the Name (used under their public API terms).
- Meaning prose and editorial summary — Wikipedia article extracts, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 .
- Predicted nationality distribution — Nationalize.io .
- Phonetically similar names — Datamuse .
Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.