Melissa - Meaning of Melissa

What does Melissa mean?

Pronounce
Melissa

[ 3 syll. me-lis-sa, mel-i-ssa ] The baby girl name Melissa is pronounced in English as Mah-LIHS-ah †.

1: Melissa is largely used in English and German, and it is derived from Old Greek origins. It is derived from the elements 'melissa' which means bee ; 'melitta' bee ; 'meli' honey. The name was borne in Greek mythology by the nymph who saved and fed Zeus; she was eventually turned into a honey bee. The name was first taken up by English speakers in the 16th century, its adoption boosted by the association with the good witch character of the same name in Ariosto's narrative poem Orlando Furioso (1532). The name was also borne by several members of prominent aristocratic families in Britain.

What are the Variant Forms of Melissa?

The name Melissa is used to a great extent; it has 70 variant transcriptions that are used in English and other languages. English variant transcriptions include Lindi, Lynda, Malessa, Malina, Malinda, Malinde, Mallie, Mallissa, Mally, Malyssa, Melesa, Melessa, Meleta, Melicent, Melici, Melina, Melinda, Melise, Melisenda, Melisent, Melisha, Melisia, Melissah, Melisse, Melissia, Melita, Melitta (used in German as well), Meliza, Melli, and Mellicent. Other English forms include the contracted forms Lissa, Mel (used in Portuguese as well), Meli (used in Greek as well), and Missie, the diminutive forms Lissy, Miss, Missy, Tiss, and Tissa, and the spelling variants Malisa, Malissa, Melisa (used in German, Indonesian, and Polish as well), Mellisa, Mellissa, and Milissa.

Variation transcriptions of Melissa used in other languages include Melaida (Spanish), Melika (Hawaiian), Melis (German), Melisande (French), Mélissa (French), and Misha (Russian). The diminutive form Misa (Czech) is another foreign variant.

2: Melissa is of Irish origin and it is also used mainly in Irish. The name is taken as an Anglicized form of the Gaelic feminine name Maoilíosa.

See also the related form, Sharissa (English).

See also the related categories, english, greek, nymph (maid), zeus, aristocratic (noble), honey, irish, anglicized, gaelic, and german.

Melissa is popular as a baby name for girls. The name's popularity grew from the 1930s up to the 1970s. At the height of its usage in 1979, 1.977% of baby girls were named Melissa. Its ranking then was #2. The baby name has since markedly dropped in popularity. In 2018, it ranked at #297 with a usage of only 0.060%, but it was nevertheless the most popular within all girl names in its group. Melissa was twice as popular as the subsequent ranked name, Melina, in 2018.

Baby names that sound like Melissa include Malissa, Macaela, Macayla, Machaela, Machella, Magola, Mahalah, Mahalya, Mahola, Maholah, Maholla, Mahollah, Makaela, Makyla, Malachey, Malachie, Malaeka, Malayka, Maleaka, and Maleala.

† Pronunciation for Melissa: M as in "me (M.IY)" ; AH as in "mud (M.AH.D)" ; L as in "lay (L.EY)" ; IH as in "it (IH.T)" ; S as in "see (S.IY)"

Details of famous persons named Melissa:
Model Melrose Bickerstaff, born Melissa Rose Bickerstaff, February 6, 1983, West Bloomfield Township, Michigan.
Singer Melissa Etheridge, born 29 May 1961, Leavenworth, Kansas.