Clarissa

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Clarissa

Gender: Feminine
Language: English
Etymology:
Clarissa is a Latin form of Clarice, a medieval French diminutive of the Latin name Clara is the Latin and English feminine form of Clarus, a Latin name which means “Bright,” or “Famous,” or “Clear.”

History:
Clarice a French diminutive of Clare, appeared early, by 1199 at least. It remained well known until the 14th century, and was revived as Clarissa (Clarice’s Latin form) in 1748 when Samuel Richardson wrote a novel entitled Clarissa (considered one of the very first, great novels). The title character was a very virtuous girl and the novel remained widely read until the late 19th century.

Admirers of Richardson’s work were given to bestowing Clarissa upon their daughters (notwithstanding the heroine’s tragic fate) and the name became quite popular in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

But tastes change and Clarissa soon entered into a slow decline, before it dropped off in the 1920s. Coincidentally or not, this is the same decade that saw Virginia Woolf’s daring novel Mrs. Dalloway (Mrs. Dalloway is named Clarissa).

By the end of the 20th century, however, Clarissa had entered a modest revival once more, no doubt thanks to a trend for “old-fashioned” sounding names (and possibly a 1991-1994 Nickelodeon sitcom named Clarissa Explains it All).

Please see Clara for more information.

Pronunciation: clar-iss-ah.

Diminutives:
English: Clarrie, Clarry, Clara.

Alternates:
English: Claris, Clarisa, Claressa, Clarrisa, Clorissa.
French: Clarice, Clarisse.
Latin: Claricia, Claritia.
Spanish: Clarisa.

Surnames: Claris, Clarridge, Clares, Clardge, Clarges.

Famous Bearers:
Educators, Scholars, and Social Workers:
Clara Barton (Clarissa Harlowe Barton) (1821-1912)
Founder of the American Red Cross.

Fictional Characters:
Clarissa Harlowe (1748)
From Samuel Richardson’s popular novel Clarissa, or the History of a Young Lady.
Clarissa Spenlow (1849)
From the Charles Dickens novel David Copperfield.
Clarissa Dalloway (1925)
From Virginia Woolf’s novel Mrs. Dalloway.

Popularity:
Percentage from the 1990 U.S. Census:
0.014 % named Clarissa
0.001 % named Clarisa

Popularity of Clarissa:
Popularity (for newborns):
In the United States...
1800: 84th most popular.
1850: 215th most popular.
1875: 346th most popular.
1880: 547th most popular.
1881: N/A
1882: 507th most popular.
1883: 465th most popular.
1884: 479th most popular.
1885: 658th most popular.
1886: 572nd most popular.
1887: 537th most popular.
1888: 753rd most popular.
1889: 567th most popular.
1890: 524th most popular.
1891: 624th most popular.
1892: 685th most popular.
1893: 687th most popular.
1894: 568th most popular.
1895: 658th most popular.
1896: 651st most popular.
1897: 660th most popular.
1898: 631st most popular.
1899: 644th most popular.
1900: 835th most popular.
1901: 530th most popular.
1902: 667th most popular.
1903: 733rd most popular.
1904: 599th most popular.
1905: 968th most popular.
1906: 793rd most popular.
1907: 709th most popular.
1908: 768th most popular.
1909: 705th most popular.
1910: 828th most popular.
1911: 720th most popular.
1912: 715th most popular.
1913: 852nd most popular.
1914: 829th most popular.
1915: 802nd most popular.
1916: 765th most popular.
1917: 751st most popular.
1918: 785th most popular.
1919: 792nd most popular.
1920: 803rd most popular.
1921: 837th most popular.
1922: 889th most popular.
1923: 896th most popular.
1924: 940th most popular.
1925: 884th most popular.
1926: 962nd most popular.
1927: 972nd most popular.
1928: 985th most popular.
1929: 960th most popular.
1930: N/A
1931: 941st most popular.
1932: 996th most popular.
1933: 970th most popular.
1934: 936th most popular.
1935: 16th most popular.
1936: 876th most popular.
1937-1938: N/A
1939: 903rd most popular.
1940: 935th most popular.
1941: 943rd most popular.
1942-1946: N/A
1947: 889th most popular.
1948: 930th most popular.
1949: 948th most popular.
1950: 940th most popular.
1951: 928th most popular.
1952: 929th most popular.
1953: 791st most popular.
1954: 831st most popular.
1955: 750th most popular.
1956: 743rd most popular.
1957: 740th most popular.
1958: 783rd most popular.
1959: 761st most popular.
1960: 714th most popular.
1961: 670th most popular.
1962: 666th most popular.
1963: 698th most popular.
1964: 625th most popular.
1965: 698th most popular.
1966: 646th most popular.
1967: 648th most popular.
1968: 597th most popular.
1969: 597th most popular.
1970: 566th most popular.
1971: 550th most popular.
1972: 549th most popular.
1973: 549th most popular.
1974: 524th most popular.
1975: 487th most popular.
1976: 476th most popular.
1977: 524th most popular.
1978: 512th most popular.
1979: 482nd most popular.
1980: 489th most popular.
1981: 418th most popular.
1982: 416th most popular.
1983: 364th most popular.
1984: 364th most popular.
1985: 366th most popular.
1986: 314th most popular.
1987: 346th most popular.
1988: 320th most popular.
1989: 331st most popular.
1990: 331st most popular.
1991: 312th most popular. - The children’s sitcom Clarissa Explains It All begins airing.
1992: 258th most popular.
1993: 269th most popular.
1994: 242nd most popular. - Peak!
1995: 243rd most popular.
1996: 248th most popular.
1997: 271st most popular.
1998: 300th most popular.
1999: 320th most popular.
2000: 326th most popular.
2001: 327th most popular.
2002: 343rd most popular.
2003: 378th most popular.
2004: 366th most popular.

Popularity of Clarisse:
Popularity (for newborns):
In France...
1900: 170th most popular.
1910: 194th most popular.
1911-1960: N/A
1961: 192nd most popular.
1970: 114th most popular.
1980: 191st most popular.
2000: 73rd most popular.

Popularity of Clarisa:
Popularity (for newborns):
In the United States...
1880-1993: N/A
1994: 663rd most popular.
1995-2004: N/A

Selected Sources:
The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, Withycombe, 1977, 3rd ed.
A Dictionary of First Names, Hanks and Hodges, 1990
The Wordsworth Dictionary of First Names, Mcleod and Freedman, 1995
The Social Security Administration Actuarial Note 139 - For popularity stats 1880-Present
The 1880 U.S. Census- For popularity stats 1850-1880, and other information (it is available on-line at www.familysearch.org)