Cerissa
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "cherry tree".
Name Census estimates that about 433 living Americans carry the first name Cerissa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cerissa today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cerissa births was 1980 (56 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cerissa. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
433
~ 1 in 791,580 Americans
Peak year
1980
56 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
2010 SSA rank
#12,514
Tracked since 1975
Census
Cerissa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 421 people with the first name Cerissa, which placed it at #23,301 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#23,301
National first-name rank
People counted
421
421 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
48.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cerissa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cerissa is White at 48.5%. The next largest groups are Black (20.0%) and Hispanic (16.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Cerissa described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Cerissa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White48.5% · 204
- Black or African American20.0% · 84
- Hispanic or Latino16.6% · 70
- Two or more races8.6% · 36
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.0% · 21
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 6
Popularity
Cerissa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cerissa from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 248 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cerissa by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Cerissa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cerissas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. California, Louisiana, Texas recorded the most babies named Cerissa, while Washington, New York, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 9 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cerissa
The name Cerissa is believed to have its origins in Greek culture, with roots tracing back to ancient times. The name is thought to be a feminine variant of the Greek name Cerissos, which itself is derived from the word "kerassos," meaning "cherry tree."
In Greek mythology, the cherry tree was considered sacred and was associated with Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, the moon, and nature. This connection likely contributed to the name's popularity among ancient Greek families, who may have chosen it as a way to honor the goddess or express their reverence for nature.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Cerissa can be found in ancient Greek texts and inscriptions dating back to the 5th century BCE. One notable example is a reference to a woman named Cerissa in Plutarch's "Parallel Lives," a collection of biographies of famous Greek and Roman figures written in the late 1st century CE.
Throughout history, the name Cerissa has been borne by several notable individuals. One of the earliest known was Cerissa of Cyrene, a Greek philosopher and mathematician who lived in the 3rd century BCE. She was renowned for her contributions to the study of geometry and her writings on the subject, which unfortunately have been lost to time.
In the realm of literature, Cerissa was the name of a character in the 16th-century Italian play "L'Aridosia" by Lorenzino de' Medici. The play, a satirical work that criticized the ruling Medici family, featured Cerissa as a symbol of virtue and innocence amidst the corruption of the Florentine court.
Another notable figure named Cerissa was Cerissa Browning, a British artist and illustrator who lived in the 19th century. Born in 1820, Browning was known for her intricate watercolor paintings and drawings, many of which depicted scenes from nature and rural life.
In the world of music, Cerissa was the name of a Greek soprano who gained fame in the early 20th century. Born in 1885 as Cerissa Panagiotou, she performed in numerous operas and concerts throughout Europe, earning acclaim for her powerful and expressive voice.
Finally, Cerissa Waddell was a pioneering American aviator who made history in the 1920s. Born in 1899, Waddell became one of the first women to obtain a commercial pilot's license and went on to establish several aviation records, including becoming the first woman to fly solo across the United States in 1924.
While the name Cerissa has roots in ancient Greek culture, it has been adopted and adapted by various societies throughout history, each imbuing it with their own cultural significance and associations. From philosophers and artists to aviators and singers, the name has been borne by a diverse array of remarkable individuals, reflecting its enduring appeal and timeless quality.
People
Cerissa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cerissa as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Cerissa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cerissa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 433 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cerissa going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 791,580 US residents.
Is Cerissa a common name?
We classify Cerissa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 461 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cerissa most popular?
The single biggest year for Cerissa was 1980, when 56 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cerissa is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cerissa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 421 people with the name Cerissa, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,301 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Cerissa in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Cerissa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cerissa appears almost entirely female. Of the 418 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Cerissa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cerissa is White at 48.5%. The next largest groups are Black (20.0%) and Hispanic (16.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Cerissa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cerissa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.5% (204 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Cerissa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cerissa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cerissa in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Cerissa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cerissa in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Cerissa can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Cerissa?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.