| Callista | Charisse | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Most beautiful | grace |
| Origin | greek | greek |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | kuh-LIS-tuh | shuh-REESS |
| Syllables | 3 | 2 |
| First appeared | 1914 | 0 |
| Peak year | 1999 (137) | 1971 (209) |
| In 2025 | 42 | 0 |
| Trend | Declining | Vintage |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Callista | Charisse |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 250 | 14 |
| 2010s | 567 | 65 |
| 2000s | 901 | 209 |
| 1990s | 424 | 521 |
| 1980s | 197 | 1,099 |
| 1970s | 44 | 1,441 |
| 1960s | 5 | 1,264 |
| 1950s | 28 | 635 |
| 1940s | 0 | 48 |
| 1930s | 6 | 0 |
| 1920s | 23 | 0 |
| 1910s | 40 | 0 |
From Greek kallistos/kallistē 'most beautiful', the superlative of kalos, from kallos 'beauty'. Kalliste was a title of the goddess Artemis; the mythological nymph Kallisto bears the same root.
Generally a French-styled elaboration of Greek 'charis' (grace, kindness). Some sources propose an unrelated derivation (a cherry/Latin 'ceresia' link, or a feminine of Charles), so the grace meaning is the most-cited but not undisputed.
Callista is more popular than Charisse today: about 42 US babies were given the name Callista in 2025, compared with 0 named Charisse.
Callista means Most beautiful (greek origin), while Charisse means grace (greek origin).
In US records, Callista first appears in 1914 and Charisse in 0, so Charisse has the longer recorded history.