Jalyssa
A feminine name of modern English origin, possibly a variant of Alyssa or Jessica.
Name Census estimates that about 1,657 living Americans carry the first name Jalyssa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jalyssa today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jalyssa births was 2007 (105 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jalyssa. 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
1.7K
~ 1 in 206,852 Americans
Peak year
2007
105 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,497
Tracked since 1987
Census
Jalyssa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,277 people with the first name Jalyssa, which placed it at #10,442 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
#10,442
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,277 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
47.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jalyssa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jalyssa is Hispanic at 47.5%. The next largest groups are Black (21.0%) and White (14.5%). 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 Jalyssa 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 Jalyssa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino47.5% · 607
- Black or African American21.0% · 268
- White14.5% · 185
- Two or more races12.8% · 164
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 28
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 25
Popularity
Jalyssa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jalyssa from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 755 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jalyssa 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 Jalyssa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jalyssas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Jalyssa, while Georgia, Arizona, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 66 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jalyssa
The name Jalyssa is believed to have originated as a modern variation of the French name Jalyssia. While its exact origins are unclear, it is thought to be derived from a combination of the French words "jali," meaning "jealous" or "envious," and "ssa," a common feminine suffix.
Some linguistic experts suggest that the name may have roots in the ancient Greek language, with "jali" potentially stemming from the Greek word "zelos," which translates to "zeal" or "ardor." However, there is no concrete historical evidence to support this theory.
The earliest recorded use of the name Jalyssa can be traced back to the late 20th century, with the first known person bearing the name being Jalyssa Monteiro, a Brazilian actress born in 1985. Other notable individuals named Jalyssa include:
1. Jalyssa Huston (born 1991), an American volleyball player who competed for the University of Georgia.
2. Jalyssa Aguirre (born 1995), a Mexican-American singer and songwriter known for her participation in the reality show "La Banda."
3. Jalyssa Fernandez (born 1998), a Puerto Rican model and beauty pageant titleholder who won the Miss Puerto Rico Petite competition in 2016.
4. Jalyssa Gallegos (born 2000), an American gymnast who represented the United States at the 2018 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships.
5. Jalyssa Sepulveda (born 2002), a Venezuelan actress and model who has appeared in several television commercials and soap operas.
While the name Jalyssa is relatively new and has not been widely used throughout history, its unique spelling and blend of French and potentially Greek influences have made it a distinctive and increasingly popular choice for parents in recent decades.
People
Jalyssa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jalyssa as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Jalyssa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jalyssa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,657 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jalyssa 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 206,852 US residents.
Is Jalyssa a common name?
We classify Jalyssa as "Rare". It ranks above 92.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,686 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jalyssa most popular?
The single biggest year for Jalyssa was 2007, when 105 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jalyssa is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jalyssa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,277 people with the name Jalyssa, or 0.42 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,442 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 Jalyssa 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 Jalyssa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jalyssa appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,272 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Jalyssa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jalyssa is Hispanic at 47.5%. The next largest groups are Black (21.0%) and White (14.5%). 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 Jalyssa most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Jalyssa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.5% (607 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 Jalyssa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jalyssa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jalyssa 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 Jalyssa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jalyssa 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 Jalyssa 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 have the name Jalyssa?
See how many Americans are named Jalyssa on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.