Narissa
A feminine name of uncertain origin, potentially meaning "harsh woman".
Name Census estimates that about 756 living Americans carry the first name Narissa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Narissa today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Narissa births was 2003 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Narissa. 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 Narissa with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
756
~ 1 in 453,379 Americans
Peak year
2003
28 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2022 SSA rank
#13,178
Tracked since 1964
Census
Narissa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 841 people with the first name Narissa, which placed it at #14,106 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
#14,106
National first-name rank
People counted
841
841 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
28.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Narissa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Narissa is White at 28.7%. The next largest groups are Black (26.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (18.4%). 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 Narissa 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 Narissa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White28.7% · 241
- Black or African American26.2% · 220
- Asian and Pacific Islander18.4% · 155
- Hispanic or Latino13.1% · 110
- Two or more races11.5% · 97
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.1% · 18
Popularity
Narissa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Narissa from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 217 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
Narissa 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 Narissa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Narissas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Texas, Washington recorded the most babies named Narissa, while Washington, Texas, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 14 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Narissa
The name Narissa is believed to have originated from the Greek language and culture. It is a feminine form of the name Narcissus, which is derived from the Greek word "narkissos" meaning "narcissus flower" or "numbness." The narcissus flower was highly revered in ancient Greek mythology and was associated with vanity and self-love.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Narissa can be found in Ovid's Metamorphoses, an epic poem from the 1st century AD. In the poem, Narcissus is a handsome young man who falls in love with his own reflection in a pool of water and eventually turns into the narcissus flower. While the name Narissa itself is not mentioned, the story of Narcissus serves as the origin for this feminine variant.
The name Narissa gained popularity during the medieval period in various European countries, particularly in Italy and France. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this name was Narissa di Montefalco, an Italian mystic and religious figure who lived in the 13th century (1268-1319). She was known for her piety and spiritual visions.
Another notable figure with the name Narissa was Narissa de Vaucelles, a French noblewoman born in the late 15th century (c. 1475-1540). She was a courtier and confidante to Queen Anne of Brittany and played an influential role in the court of King Francis I of France.
In literature, the name Narissa appears in William Shakespeare's play "A Midsummer Night's Dream," where she is mentioned as one of the fairies attending Titania, the queen of the fairies. This reference further solidifies the name's connection to Greek mythology and the natural world.
During the Renaissance period, the name Narissa was also used by Italian artist Narissa Merola (c. 1520-1590), who was renowned for her portraits and mythological paintings. Her works often depicted scenes from classical Greek and Roman mythology, reflecting the cultural influence of the name's origins.
Another notable figure with the name Narissa was Narissa Haworth (1730-1798), an English philanthropist and Quaker leader. She was known for her charitable work and advocacy for social reform, particularly in the areas of education and prison reform.
While the name Narissa has its roots in ancient Greek mythology and culture, it has been embraced and used throughout various historical periods and regions, often associated with artistic, spiritual, and influential individuals.
People
Narissa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Narissa as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with N
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Narissa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Narissa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 756 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Narissa 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 453,379 US residents.
Is Narissa a common name?
We classify Narissa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 784 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Narissa most popular?
The single biggest year for Narissa was 2003, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Narissa is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Narissa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 841 people with the name Narissa, or 0.28 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,106 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 Narissa 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 Narissa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Narissa appears almost entirely female. Of the 832 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 Narissa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Narissa is White at 28.7%. The next largest groups are Black (26.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (18.4%). 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 Narissa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Narissa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 28.7% (241 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 Narissa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Narissa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Narissa 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 Narissa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Narissa 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 Narissa 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 Narissa?
See how many people have the name Narissa on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.