Łarisa
From Greek, the name means "citadel" or "fortress". Barely 52 women in Poland carry this spelling with the Ł, and no newborns have taken it in years: most Poles have never met one.
Łarisa Pronunciation
Łarisa is pronounced wah-REE-sah (/waˈrisa/).
What Łarisa means
Where Łarisa comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
The name comes from the Greek city of Larisa in Thessaly, whose name meant citadel or fortress. Larissa was also a nymph in old Greek myth, a daughter of Pelasgus, and the city took her name. The word for a stronghold became the name of a girl.
Russia took the name and kept it warm. Larisa Latynina, the Soviet gymnast, won eighteen Olympic medals between 1956 and 1964, and held the record for decades. Her fame moved the name across the Soviet world, where Larisa and the variant larysa grew common.
In Poland the name arrives softened. Lara serves as the everyday diminutive, short and quick to say. The Polish sense stays close to the Greek: twierdza, forteca, a fortress.
A girl called Łarisa signs a form at the urząd with that fortress standing behind her name.
How many people are named Łarisa
1 in 433535 women in Poland is named Łarisa. 52 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #5240 among female names.
Łarisa as a middle name
Łarisa is a first name for 52 women in Poland and a middle name for another 6, a 90/10 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 3472nd, between Łaja (6) and Şule (6).
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#3470 Émilie6
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#3471 Łaja6
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#3472 Łarisa6
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#3473 Şule6
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#3474 Żenia6