Marissa

This is a very gorgeous name!

Marissa sounds like the name of a chatty popular blonde girl who's obsessed with floral print. But it's pretty!

My name is Merissa. My whole childhood I was called Mary, spelt Meri. I go by Merissa now except my parents and sister call me Meri. I have almost never had a soul spell it right and I get called Melissa a lot. It doesn't bother me. I like that my name is unique. I've never met a Merissa spelled this way. I have met a couple Marissa's though. The name means of the sea and I can't swim. Haha.

I think this would be a great name for a female book character.

This is used pretty frequently as a middle name in my family. I would love to continue that tradition, but sadly most of the names I like don't flow very well with Marissa...

I really truly like this name and hope it circles back around for a comeback like Natalie has. This is my favorite of the -issa names and always makes me think of an intelligent and thoughtful young lady. The only Marissa's I have ever known were all pleasant people. I would recommend this name to anyone that was considering using it.

Not a fan of this spelling; almost every bully/mean girl I've had the misfortune of meeting in elementary and middle school has been named Marissa, so this spelling (and pronunciation) has forever been ruined for me.

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I do like Marisa (pronounced ma-REE-sa), though.

Marissa sounds like someone who would walk into orchestra practice shaking her hips and says 'hey dudes'.

Not a fan at all. It’s just not pretty or soft sounding. It’s also 20-30 years ago.

I like this so much better than Melissa.

This is my name and I don't like it. I've wanted to change it ever since I can remember. People always mispronounce it, call me Melissa, Carissa, Narissa etc. If anyone wants to name their daughter this, be careful it will get mispronounced for sure.

Very pretty, I like it much better than Melissa. I think the nicknames Mar and Rissa are lovely and the name on the whole is very pretty and fun to say.

I love my name! It's unique and you get over the mispronunciations of Melissa, Marsha, etc. Solely because you know you possess a beautiful and angelic name. When I worked in radio I was mistaken for Martha so much it became a running joke and nickname with my friends. The meaning I know behind it is "of the sea" with single s as Italian and double (my spelling) as English.

This name fits well for a popular girl, but not necessarily an annoying/sassy one. It is very elegant and fits both very bright personalities and very dark personalities. Yet somewhere in the middle, it seems out of place.

My name is Marissa. I think it is an okay name. Growing up, I have been called everything else from Melissa to Miranda to Mariah. I would prefer a different name because it is not very unique, but it is acceptable. Also, as others have mentioned, there are many ways to spell this name. I even went to school with a girl who spelled it "Merisa".

Lovely, lovely name. Wasn't this the name of Anne of Green Gables' Aunt?

I love the name Marissa. My oldest daughter I was going to name Marissa or Trista. Both beautiful names. I wanted my first, if a girl to be named after my grandmother, my favorite person in the world. I thought Marissa Margaret didn't sound right (but now I think it sounds good together) so my older daughter is Trista Margaret and my younger daughter is Marissa Jaden. So I have a Marissa and a Trista.

My name is Marissa Renee and I simply could not see myself being named anything else.

I like it but I think some people would mistake the name as Melissa.

I don’t understand how someone could possible hate this name! It is a beautiful name, and it is my bestie’s name. How do people think it doesn’t sound good, and I do agree, it is kind of hard to get used to spell, but, at least the people that really matter get used to spelling it! Not like you care about some old guy misspelling your name.

I love this name, my sister is Marissa Ashley and both names sound beautiful together!

I personally feel like my name is out of place. You'd be surprised how often my name gets misspelled from 'Marissa' to 'Marisa' or 'Marrisa' It's very frustrating.

I like my name. I like how it's kind of unique, I haven't met too many people with my name. The only thing I dislike is that people always mistake my name for Melissa. You'd be surprised how many times I have to tell people my name again because they forget and call me Melissa.

My name is Marisa, an alteration of the name Marissa. They both have the same meaning, and I love my name. Anyone who didn't like the name or has a problem with it can take off! It is a great name and all my friends agree it means wished for child, bitter, rebellion, and my personal favourite, Of the sea!

This name is very beautiful, but makes me think of someone who is very arrogant and self-centered. I don't know why.

My name is Marissa and I love it. Its what makes me, me. Love your name no matter what.

I used to not like my name, but now I am used to the name Marissa. I always wanted my name to be Melissa, but my brother chose my name and so it is special to me.

My daughters name is Marissa Kathryn. I wanted something beautiful and sweet but not overused and what I would call a scrabble name. I didn't want something that was very common or hard to pronounce. When she was smaller, she went but Rissa but now that she is older, her friends call her Mari. (Mah-ree). Kinda annoys me but she has one of those names that can have many different nicknames.

This name sounds harsh with the 'rissa' in it. And plus, it sounds like an old women name. I cannot imagine it on a little girl.

This is my name! I think it's pretty, although I don't really think about my own name very often... But anyways, the only thing I don't like is its kind of modern, since it wasn't even used 50 years ago, but I think it can suit an adult and an old woman fine. I go by my full name, since there aren't really any nicknames, but sometimes I get called Riss, Rissa, or rissie. I prefer this spelling over Marisa, that sounds too Spanish to me, and I'm Italian. What I find weird is that people tend to think its spelled "marrissa" or "marrisa", which makes absolutely no sense. Overall, it's not my favorite name or the first name I'd want to be called if I had a choice, but I still like it :)

I love this name. So pretty and you don't hear it a whole lot. This is a name where a nickname wouldn't do it justice.

This is my younger sister's name! (Her full name is Marissa Christina.) She is the nicest and sweetest person I know. She also has some shy and innocent qualities about her, and I feel like her name reflects that. It sounds girly and sweet to me, which is exactly how I'd describe my sister. It was nice when she was a little girl, and now that she is more grown up and in college, it still seems appropriate. I suppose there are people that might think the name is a little "cutesy" for an adult, but she is petite (5'2") and has a baby face, so I don't find it too incongruous, since she is a "cute" person.

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One thing to be aware of is that "Marissa" sounds a lot like "Melissa." The latter has gone down in popularity in more recent years, so this is perhaps not as much of an issue anymore, but my sister was born in 1991, when "Melissa" was still very ubiquitous. She had to correct people on occasion.

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I haven't met very many Marissas in my area (Chicago metropolitan area); certainly not to the degree where I'd say it's an overused name, but that could just be the region where I live. I think it's a lovely and feminine name, and I recommend it!

This name is beautiful. It's my niece's name. We call her Rissy for short.

I like this name. My sister's name is Marissa. For some reason I think it sounds like a type of flower. (=^__^=)

This is also my name, and in my tiny little town it's really common, which makes me not like it very much. It's still a great name, but a little overused. Some people hate it, and others love it. I was named after Marisa Tomei, who in my opinion is a great actress.
I'm not a whiny teenager who is orange from tanning, seeing as I live in upstate NY. Okay maybe I'm whiny sometimes, but really who isn't? Anyways, not hear to ask questions. I think Marissa is a strong, beautiful, independent name that a young girl can grow easily into. Just if you're going to use it make sure other people in your city aren't going to name their baby that too.

The name Marissa is pretty, yes, but very overused.

My name is Marissa. The only thing I don't like about my name is that there are a million different ways to spell it and it's a pain having to spell it for everyone I meet.

Scratch that. Two things I don't like about my name; my previous comment above, and the fact that most other Marissas I've met were ditzy preppy airheads (I'm quite the opposite- actually quite tomboyish!)

Sorry, but I hate this name. It reminds me of a whiny teen who has orange skin because of fake tanning.

I think the sound of Marissa is absolutely beautiful.

My little sister's name is Marissa. I think this name is okay, but it's pretty popular where we live so there are several of them. :[

This is my middle name, and I think it is simply beautiful. This is my favorite spelling of this name. I've only met two girls named Marissa, and they are both very cute girls. I love how my name comes from Mary (originally, it is a combination of Maria and Luisa, with Maria being the Latinized form of Mary) as my mom wanted me to be named after two of my great grandmothers. I think this is a very feminine name, which makes it easy to define from the name the gender of the person. Also, I think this is a very cute yet sophisticated name that you could grow up with. I love my middle name!

This really is a beautiful name (I like it much better than the similar Melissa).

I love my name, it's not a name that many girls had when I was growing up and now I know tons of people with my name. Although I would have to tell people how to pronounce it (mostly older Italians) but it didn't bother me that much. And my family call me Riss, or Rissa for short.

My name. I would love it if I lived anywhere other than the US, but as it is, I can't stand how the syllable which pops out is the big, ugly, hulking American RRRRRRR. Gross.

I dislike almost all names ending in -issa, but not this one. I'm not sure why, but this name doesn't sound as girly and cutesy to me as names like Carissa and Larissa. It's not that different from Melissa, which certainly isn't a little-girl-name. Plus, Marissa is a lot prettier somehow. I thought I made this name up when I was 8 or 9. I'm Finnish, and of course I didn't know how common this was in the US. It sounds like the name of someone pretty and nice.

This is my name, and I didn't really like it when I was younger, because I thought it was too delicate and wimpy. But now I like my name more. I think it's kind of unique, but not so unusual that people won't be able to say/spell it.

This is a beautiful name. If I have a daughter I will name her Marissa. Lovely name.

This name's okay. This name seems pretty popular, but I only know two girls with this name. Maybe it's not as popular where I live.

My best friend's name is Marissa and she is the absolute sweetest girl in the world! Her name refelects the fact that she isn't sterotypical and she's very original. I suggest naming a girl Marissa if you want her name to be unique.

This is such a beautiful name. I heard it was a form of Maris.

After reading my name for a while looking at the comments my name now seems foreign but I do like the name because nobody else has it and there are not many people that have the same name as me.

My name is Marissa and I kind of don't like it. I wish my parents would have named me Miranda instead like they were going to. But at least I got a decent nickname out of it "Sissa".

A hate this name. I know a girl called that and she does my head in.

I think the name Marissa is annoying.

I love my name. I think that anyone who wants to avoid boring names that have been used over and over again in small towns all over the United States should really consider this name! It's fabulous!!

I think Marissa is the best female name out there, mainly because the sweetest girl I can think of has the name Marissa. She is so nice and the name will stay with me forever.

In my honest opinion, Marissa is a name that chavvy parents give to their daughters. It's in the same category as Stacy, Candice, Larisa and other names I can't stand.

How dare you diss my baby cousin's name! It has the meaning wished for child which is very appropriate for her because she was adopted from China and was really wanted in our family. My aunt and uncle are not chavy people either.