Melisa
A quiet name through the 2000s and 2010s, it's climbing fast now: more girls were given it last year than in any earlier year on record. From Greek, where it means "bee".
Melisa Pronunciation
Melisa is pronounced me-LEE-sah (/mɛˈlisa/).
What Melisa means
Where Melisa comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Melisa comes from the Greek word melissa, meaning bee. The Greeks kept bees for their honey, and the word stood as a woman's name well before it reached Poland. In old Greek cult, certain priestesses went by melissae, the bees. Its short meaning holds steady: bee, in Polish pszczoła.
Turkey took up Melisa widely across recent decades. In Turkish the same word names lemon balm, the herb whose flowers pull bees close; botanists file the plant as Melissa officinalis. Spanish speakers carry the name too, usually spelled Melissa with a doubled s. The Polish version keeps a single s.
Fill in a form at the urząd and Melisa asks for no explaining. Its Greek root has not shifted in centuries. The name means bee.
When Melisa celebrates name day
Melisa appears 1 time in the Polish name day calendar, never as a main name. The first of these dates is 21 September.
Rarer dates. Only the most complete calendars add this name on these days. Most skip them, so hardly anyone celebrates then.
How many people are named Melisa
1 in 20952 women in Poland is named Melisa. 1,076 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #930 among female names.
Melisa's popularity over time
118 girls were given the name in 2025, ranking #238 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2000.
Where parents choose Melisa
Melisa is most popular in Pomeranian, 44% above the national average (46 girls born 2019–2025), followed by Silesian (+31%) and Greater Poland (+28%). It is least common in Podlaskie and Holy Cross, 86% and 59% below average respectively.
-
Pomeranian
+44%1 in 3,203 babies
-
Silesian
+31%1 in 3,501 babies
-
Greater Poland
+28%1 in 3,587 babies
-
Podlaskie
−86%1 in 32,893 babies
-
Holy Cross
−59%1 in 11,087 babies
-
Łódź
−31%1 in 6,669 babies
-
Pomeranian+44% 46 born1 in 3,203 babies+44%
-
Silesian+31% 65 born1 in 3,501 babies+31%
-
Greater Poland+28% 60 born1 in 3,587 babies+28%
-
Lower Silesian+17% 40 born1 in 3,928 babies+17%
-
Subcarpathian+14% 30 born1 in 4,019 babies+14%
-
Kuyavian-Pomeranian+5% 25 born1 in 4,375 babies+5%
-
Warmian-Masurian+2% 16 born1 in 4,487 babies+2%
-
Opole±0% 10 born1 in 4,610 babies±0%
-
Masovian−5% 73 born1 in 4,853 babies−5%
-
Lubusz−7% 10 born1 in 4,966 babies−7%
-
West Pomeranian−13% 16 born1 in 5,277 babies−13%
-
Lesser Poland−25% 37 born1 in 6,133 babies−25%
-
Lublin−28% 16 born1 in 6,417 babies−28%
-
Łódź−31% 19 born1 in 6,669 babies−31%
-
Holy Cross−59% 5 born1 in 11,087 babies−59%
-
Podlaskie−86% 2 born1 in 32,893 babies−86%
Melisa as a middle name
Melisa is a first name for 1,076 women in Poland and a middle name for another 210, an 84/16 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 465th, between Miłosława (213) and Ksawera (206).
-
#463 Lorena213
-
#464 Miłosława213
-
#465 Melisa210
-
#466 Ksawera206
-
#467 Mila206