How Many People Are Named Clarissa?
An estimated 35,636 people in the United States have the first name Clarissa. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 33 years old, and Clarissa peaked in popularity in 1995 with 1,201 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Clarissa as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Clarissa paired with any surname.
Estimated Living Americans
35,636
About 1 in 9,618 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Female
99.9% confidence
Average Age
33
years old
Peak Year
1995
1,201 births
Total Registered
40,289
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Clarissa
Clarissa is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 40,289 total births registered, 99.9% were female.
Clarissa as a male name
Ranked #9,035 in 1994
5 male births in 1994
Peak: 1985 (6 births)
Clarissa as a female name
Ranked #1,159 in 2024
207 female births in 2024
Peak: 1995 (1,201 births)
Clarissa: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Clarissa span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1990s, when 10,601 babies were registered. Clarissa has declined significantly from its peak in the 1990s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Clarissa by Decade
How has Clarissa tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 133 | 0 | 133 | |
| 1890s | 221 | 0 | 221 | |
| 1900s | 252 | 0 | 252 | |
| 1910s | 596 | 0 | 596 | |
| 1920s | 663 | 0 | 663 | |
| 1930s | 512 | 0 | 512 | |
| 1940s | 680 | 0 | 680 | |
| 1950s | 1,402 | 0 | 1,402 | |
| 1960s | 2,323 | 0 | 2,323 | |
| 1970s | 3,473 | 0 | 3,473 | |
| 1980s | 6,385 | 11 | 6,374 | |
| 1990s | 10,601 | 10 | 10,591 | |
| 2000s | 7,558 | 0 | 7,558 | |
| 2010s | 4,265 | 0 | 4,265 | |
| 2020s | 1,225 | 0 | 1,225 | |
Clarissa by State
Birth registrations for Clarissa span all 47 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Texas, California, New York. The lowest are in New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota. On average, about 736 Clarissas were registered per state.
Clarissa + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Clarissa as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Clarissa
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
Clarissa: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Clarissa?
We estimate approximately 35,636 people named Clarissa are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 9,618 Americans share this first name.
Is Clarissa a common name?
Clarissa is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 98.9% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 40,289 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Clarissa most popular?
Clarissa reached peak popularity in 1995, when 1,201 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Clarissa is approximately 33 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Clarissa a female name?
Clarissa is predominantly female. 99.9% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Clarissa Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Clarissa Smith, Clarissa Johnson, Clarissa Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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