girl's name
Clarissa
kluh-RISS-uh
- Origin Latin
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 3
- Letters 8
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 43,080
Northern Ireland
#527
2010 births
Clarissa means bright, and it names one of the longest novels in English — Richardson's Clarissa runs to about a million words, which makes it longer than the whole of Proust in most editions.
- Clarissa is a name of Latin origin.
- Peaked in 1995, when 1,201 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 15,638 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 3 syllables, with the stress on syllable 2.
Clarissa over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 133 |
| 1890s | 221 |
| 1900s | 252 |
| 1910s | 596 |
| 1920s | 663 |
| 1930s | 512 |
| 1940s | 680 |
| 1950s | 1,402 |
| 1960s | 2,323 |
| 1970s | 3,473 |
| 1980s | 6,385 |
| 1990s | 10,602 |
| 2000s | 7,558 |
| 2010s | 4,266 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 1,439 |
What Clarissa means
Clarissa means bright, clear or famous. The Latin clarus covers all three senses at once, from visual brightness to clarity of sound to reputation, from visual brightness to clarity of sound to reputation.
Where Clarissa comes from
Clarissa is a Latinate elaboration of Clare, from clarus — bright, clear and famous, the root of clarity, declare and clarion. Samuel Richardson's Clarissa of 1748 runs to roughly a million words and is among the longest novels in English; it was widely read across Europe and put the name into general use. Clare, elsewhere on this site, is the older English form of the same word.
Clarissa in use
Clarissa peaked in the United States in 1995, when 1,201 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 1116th in the United States on 212 births, 1397th in England and Wales on 23 and 6984th in France on 5, across 43,080 lifetime births in four of the seven markets we track. England and Wales ran its own peak of 78 births in 1996.
How popular is Clarissa?
In 2025, Clarissa was given to 212 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Clarissa is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Clarissa
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Clarissa also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Clarissa over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Clarissa
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Clarissa in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Clarissa
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Clarissa — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Clarissa
What does the name Clarissa mean?
Bright or clear — the Latin clarus.
Is the novel really that long?
Roughly a million words, among the longest in English.
Is Clare the same name?
Yes — the older English form, written up separately here.
How popular is Clarissa?
1116th in the United States, down from a 1995 peak of 1,201 births.
Is Clarissa a girl's or a boy's name?
Clarissa is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Clarissa?
Clarissa has 3 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Clarissa?
Clarissa is usually shortened to Clara.
Is Clarissa a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Clarissa currently ranks #1,116 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.