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Home › Baby Names Directory › Melyssa

Melyssa

♀ Girl

How to Pronounce Melyssa

Pronounced muh-LISS-uh /məˈlɪs.ə/High

Meaning: Melyssa is a decorative respelling of Melissa, from Greek melissa, 'honeybee' (itself from meli, 'honey'). Swapping the middle i for a y was a favorite way to freshen a familiar name in the 1980s.Medium

In 30 seconds: Melyssa is Melissa with a stylish y (said 'muh-LISS-uh') — same honeybee meaning, a glossier late-1980s finish.
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Origin MediumGreek, English
MeaningMelyssa is a decorative respelling of Melissa, from Greek melissa, 'honeybee' (itself from meli, 'honey'). Swapping the middle i for a y was a favorite way to freshen a familiar name in the 1980s.
U.S. rank (2023)#13009 ↗ Rising
2023 U.S. births7 girls (0.00% of U.S. girls)
Peak year1989
Total births (all-time)≈ 2,023

Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data

peak 198919652023

U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880–present). Pink marker = peak year.

SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.

History & Origin

Melyssa carries the meaning of its parent Melissa, the Greek word for a honeybee and, in myth, the name of a nymph who nursed the infant Zeus on honey. The y-spelling belongs to a wave of 1980s respellings that let a girl share a beloved name yet sign it a bit differently. It rose with that fashion and peaked in 1989.

A girl named Melyssa at its peak is now in her mid-thirties, squarely a Gen-X-into-Millennial cohort. The spelling reads as a period marker of late-'80s and early-'90s taste rather than a reviving vintage; parents today mostly return to the straightforward Melissa.

Did you know? The classic Melissa was a top-ten girls' name in the 1970s; parents reaching for a little distinction turned the middle i into a y, and Melyssa crested at the very end of the 1980s.
Overall data confidence 72%
References — Melyssa — Respelling of Melissa (Gk 'honeybee'); late-1980s peak

Variations

MelissaMelisaMellissa

Nicknames

MelMissyLissa

Famous Bearers

  • Famous bearers coming soon.

If you like Melyssa…

Melissa— the standard spelling Melyssa restyles
Alyssa— shares the soft -yssa/-lyssa sound and same era
Marissa— a like three-beat -issa name of the period
Larissa— another flowing -issa name in the same family

Explore names like Melyssa

By themegreekrespellingnature1980s

All themes →All meanings →All origins →

Frequently Asked

What does the name Melyssa mean?

Melyssa is a respelling of Melissa, from the Greek melissa, 'honeybee.'

How do you pronounce Melyssa?

It's said muh-LISS-uh /məˈlɪs.ə/ — three syllables, stress on the middle.

Is Melyssa a boy or girl name?

Melyssa is used as a girl's name, a variant spelling of Melissa.

How popular is Melyssa?

Melyssa was an uncommon stylized take on a hugely popular name, briefly fashionable around the late eighties and rare since.

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