A new-comer in Street Fighter 6 is called this. She is an Italian grappler character with muscles the size of melons, and her hair is in the shape of a spartan helmet. Also she is the tallest female SF character at a towering 6'9.
This is my name. All my life it has been mispronounced and as I get older (I'm 55) I find that I have less and less patience for it. I am tired of being called Marissa. I finally decided to put it in my email signature at work. People get to declare their pronouns - why can't I state how I want my name pronounced? My boss named her daughter Marissa but spells it with one S. She knows what my name is but constantly mispronounces it and introduces me with the wrong name. This bugs!
I think the name Marisa is beautiful! It reminds me of the equally lovely and timeless Maria. Marisa also has a beautiful meaning and it works well in many languages.
My family (plus a few internet searches) told me that the name Marisa is derived from the Latin “Maris Stella, ” which means “Star of the Sea.” That is special to me because when my great-grandmother left Italy and immigrated to the United States, she settled in Cape May, New Jersey, where the local Catholic Church is named to honor Mary, the mother of Jesus, with the title of “Our Lady, Star of the Sea.” My name is spelled with just one “s” as “Marisa” but is often mispronounced as “ma-RISS-a.” I tell people that it’s actually pronounced “ma-REE-sa, rhymes with Mother Teresa, but I’m probably not half so holy!” :-)
My first name is Marisa and just wondered about it. Oddly my favorite place in the world is by the sea or just water in general. I ❤️ my name.
― Anonymous User 1/23/2019
5
According to all my Sicilian and Italian family, Marisa [my sister's name] is a contraction of Maria-Lisabetta or Mary Elizabeth, hence the meaning would be the meanings for Mary and Elizabeth.
This is my daughter's name. I named her Marisa because it was always my favorite name. It is always misspelled with 2 S's. I knew this would happen and I still spelled it with 1 S to be different and I liked the way it looked better. My name is Chasity with 1 T so I'm used to that. Coincidentally, one of my daughter's best friends is also named Marisa, but we usually don't hear of it a lot. We pronounce it Muh-riss-uh but I sometimes like to say it the Spanish way to her because it sounds so pretty.
Marisa Petroro is an American actress and model. Marisa was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey. When she was 4 years old, Marisa first started to perform in beauty pageants. At age eight, the New Jersey native began taking trips to New York to study acting at the highly acclaimed HB Studio.
Marisa Pavan is an Italian-born actress who first became famous as the twin sister of film star Pier Angeli before achieving film stardom on her own. Her breakthrough came in the film The Rose Tattoo as Anna Magnani's daughter; her role was first assigned to her twin, who at the time was unable to play the part. When Magnani won the Academy Award for Best Actress, Pavan accepted on her behalf as Magnani was not present at the awards ceremony. Pavan was nominated for Best Supporting Actress, losing to Jo Van Fleet. Both Magnani and Pavan won Golden Globe Awards that year.
Totally love this name. My grandma named me after her favorite cowboy, John Wayne's, daughter. I don't see it spelled the way I spell it. Which makes it even more unique... Merissa.
It is also my name, and I love it because I have only met one other girl who pronounced it and spelled it the same as I do. I pronounce it Ma-Ree-Sa. But many mispronounce it as Ma-Riss-a. I don't get offended, and don't bother correcting them. Even my aunt used to mispronounce it as Ma-Riss-a which was shortened down to the nickname I had as a child (Rissy).
This is my name and I have always loved it. :) I pronounce it MUH-RIS-UH, so pretty much a variant of Marissa. I do like my spelling much better though. I love my name because it is feminine and beautiful. But also, fairly rare and unique without going over the top. A perfect name for a girl, in my opinion. ;)
This is my name, and I used to hate it. I always wanted to be named something like Sophia or Hannah but now I really like my name. It really suits me because I'm Italian. A lot of strangers, when they ask what my name is, say that I have a very pretty name.
This is my name, but I spell it marissa. I don't know why, but to me Marisa looks more Spanish than Italian, and I think it would be pronounced ma-ree-sa, whereas marissa is pronounced ma-riss-a :)
This is my name and I absolutely love it! It is strong, formal and elegant but still has a contemporary fresh vibe about it! I am proud to have this name (pronounced mu-RISS-uh).
I like this name, and prefer this spelling to others I have seen like Marissa or Marrissa. I have a friend named Marisa, and we sometimes call her "Risa" for short.
― Anonymous User 7/28/2009
2
In Italy Marisa was typical of the 1930s. It was the 3rd most popular name in Rome in 1931 (behind Maria and Annamaria), the 4th in 1936 (behind Annamaria, Maria and Anna). Probably it didn't exist much before, and it has become very old-fashioned today.
Marisa is the contraction of or nickname for Maria Isabel. When speaking Spanish, one would say Marisabel, which shortened to Marisa. It was typically a nickname until about 50 years ago when it started to become popular as a given name.
Marisa (mah-REE-sah) is a contraction of "Maria" and "Teresa" (i.e. girls with the first name "Maria" and middle name "Teresa" were called "Marisa" for short). The name stemmed from this practice (in parts of Spain, at least).
― Anonymous User 10/15/2007
3
The character from His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman, Mrs Coulter's first name is Marisa. She is Lyra Belacqua's mother. She is an evil woman who was behind the experimental cutting of children and their daemons which are their spirits.
― Anonymous User 10/1/2007
3
At least in Spain, Marisa is a nickname for Maria Luisa and not a name on its own. [noted -ed]
Very beautiful name, I heard it was a form of Maris.
― Anonymous User 8/28/2006
1
I love the name Marisa (well, luckily I do, it's my name!). It's unique, but not too unique, and sounds feminine and pretty. I am very proud to have this name.
― Anonymous User 8/25/2005
1
Marisa Tomei, Marisa Ramirez, Marisa Monte are just a few famous names I have seen and there are many more.
― Anonymous User 4/29/2005
2
Marisa Pavan is an Italian actress (though her name comes from Maria Luisa).