Clarissa is a Latinate elaboration of Clarice and Clara, from the Latin clarus, "bright", "clear" or "famous". Samuel Richardson's 1748 novel Clarissa made it a literary name, Virginia Woolf gave it to Mrs. Dalloway, and a generation of Americans grew up with the 1990s Nickelodeon show Clarissa Explains It All. Clarissa ranked number 326 in 2000, peaked at number 325 in 2001 and has since fallen to number 1114 in 2025.