Nerissa

Attested in 1 language in the etymology graph.

Names that people choosing a name often weigh against Nerissa, most often first. They share a style rather than an origin.

• Oceana
• Maris
• Darya
• Ondine
• Ianthe
• Marina
• Naia
• Circe
• Odessa
• Moana
• Marissa
• Phaedra

From the names suggested together in public name-advice forums, in English. A list of what people consider, not a measure of how common any name is.

Nerissa is also recorded as another name, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Russian given name5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States

  Languages: Russian, Ukrainian

  Also written Нерисса

43 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Nerissa is also recorded in 2 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, A female given name from Ancient Greek.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• English: of Shakespearian origin. It is the name of a minor character in The Merchant of Venice , Portia's waiting woman, who marries Gratiano. The name seems to represent a Latinate elaboration of Greek n r is nymph, sea sprite (see NEREIDA ).

  as a word

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

• Nerissa Bowes-Lyonb. 1919GB(1919-1986)
• Nerissa Bretania Underwoodb. 1955PHpolitician
• Nerissa Corazon Soon-Ruizb. 1956PHFilipino politician
• Nerissa Leab. 1959AUAustralian artist
• Nerissa Liub. 1995GBbadminton player
• Nerissa S. BauerUSpediatrician and blogger
• Nerissa McDowellNZNew Zealand softball player
• Nerissa HenryNZNew Zealand Labour Party candidate in the 2020 election

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

A formal English salutation is built on the surname, so it needs a full name — on its own, a first name only supports the informal form.

Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.

Where does the name Nerissa come from?

Of Shakespearian origin. It is the name of a minor character in The Merchant of - Venice, Portia’s waiting woman, who NETTA NETTIE Recorded by A concise dictionary of first names.

In which country does Nerissa have the most bearers?

Mondonomo estimates about 38 thousand people named Nerissa in the Philippines, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled nerissa.

What does the name Nerissa mean?

Recorded meaning: Of Shakespearian origin.

What are other forms of the name Nerissa?

In the etymology graph, Nereida is a form of the same name in other languages.

How do you pronounce Nerissa?

A machine transcription gives /nəɹɪsə/ (IPA) for English.

Is Nerissa a male or female name?

Nerissa is a female name. National registers that list it by sex list it as female: United States (Census Bureau, 2020), Netherlands (Meertens NVB) and Brazil (IBGE, 2022).

How common is the name Nerissa?

In the United States, the national register counted 2,760 people named Nerissa in 2020, about 1 in 121 thousand residents.

How common is Nerissa compared with other names?

In the Philippines, Nerissa is the 511th most common given name of 486,299 given names recorded there.