Laurissa
A name of Latin and Greek origins meaning "laurel" or "sweet bay tree".
Name Census estimates that about 710 living Americans carry the first name Laurissa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Laurissa today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Laurissa births was 1991 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Laurissa. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Laurissa with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
710
~ 1 in 482,753 Americans
Peak year
1991
29 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2019 SSA rank
#13,194
Tracked since 1962
Census
Laurissa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 670 people with the first name Laurissa, which placed it at #16,725 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
#16,725
National first-name rank
People counted
670
670 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
64.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Laurissa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Laurissa is White at 64.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.4%) and Black (7.8%). 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 Laurissa 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 Laurissa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White64.8% · 434
- Hispanic or Latino18.4% · 123
- Black or African American7.8% · 52
- Two or more races5.8% · 39
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 10
Popularity
Laurissa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Laurissa from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 234 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Laurissa 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 Laurissa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Laurissas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Laurissa, while New York, Texas, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 21 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Laurissa
The name Laurissa is a feminine given name with roots that can be traced back to ancient Latin and Greek origins. It is believed to be a variant of the name Laura, which itself is derived from the Latin word "laurus," meaning "laurel" or "bay tree." The laurel tree was a symbol of victory and honor in ancient Roman culture, and its leaves were used to create crowns for victors and heroes.
In the Greek language, the name Laurissa is closely related to the word "daphne," which also refers to the laurel tree. This connection to the laurel tree and its symbolic significance in ancient cultures suggests that the name Laurissa may have been associated with concepts of triumph, glory, and reverence in its early usage.
While the name Laurissa does not appear to have any direct historical references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, its root name, Laura, has been recorded throughout various periods of history. One of the earliest known instances of the name Laura is in the 9th century, when a Spanish martyr named Laura was canonized by the Catholic Church.
Over the centuries, several notable individuals have borne the name Laurissa. One of the earliest recorded examples is Laurissa Landor (1805-1891), an English author and writer who was known for her poetry and novels. Another notable Laurissa was Laurissa Gemmill (1854-1928), a Scottish artist and painter who gained recognition for her landscape and portrait works.
In the 20th century, Laurissa Potts (1906-1989) was an American author and journalist who wrote several books on travel and culture. Laurissa Landre (1926-2019) was a Canadian actress and dancer who had a successful career on stage and television.
More recently, Laurissa Romain (born 1980) is a British actress and television presenter known for her roles in various British television series and films.
It is worth noting that while the name Laurissa has been used throughout history, it has never been among the most common or popular given names in any particular region or culture. However, its enduring presence and the rich symbolism associated with its roots in ancient Latin and Greek languages have contributed to its continued use as a unique and meaningful name choice.
People
Laurissa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Laurissa as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Laurissa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Laurissa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 710 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Laurissa 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 482,753 US residents.
Is Laurissa a common name?
We classify Laurissa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 744 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Laurissa most popular?
The single biggest year for Laurissa was 1991, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Laurissa is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Laurissa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 670 people with the name Laurissa, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,725 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 Laurissa 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 Laurissa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Laurissa appears almost entirely female. Of the 675 people counted with this name, 99.1% 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 Laurissa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Laurissa is White at 64.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.4%) and Black (7.8%). 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 Laurissa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Laurissa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.8% (434 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 Laurissa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Laurissa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Laurissa 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 Laurissa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Laurissa 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 Laurissa 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 Laurissa as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.