Clarissa

Where Clarissa comes from

Borrowed from Italian Clarissa, from Medieval Latin Clarissa; see there for more. Popularized in English by Samuel Richardson's 1748 novel Clarissa. Doublet of Clarisse.
— Wiktionary's entry for Clarissa
  • Latin
  • Italian
  • 3 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Clarissa through the years
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #547 among girls, with 10 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1945
    Clarissa Pinkola Estés born
    American psychoanalyst and writer
  3. 1980
    Clarissa Ward born
    American journalist
  4. 1994
    Peak, #237
    1,185 babies named Clarissa, its best rank.
  5. 2008
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births, down to #563.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from Latin or Italian.
Namesakes
  • Clarissa Pinkola Estés · American psychoanalyst and writer, born 1945
  • Clarissa Ward · American journalist, born 1980
  • Clarissa Chun · American sport wrestler, born 1981
  • Clarissa dos Santos · Brazilian basketball player, born 1988
  • Clarissa Allen · American author and educator, 1859–1941

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.