Larissa (Ancient Greek: Λάρισα) is a female given name of Greek origin that is common in Eastern European nations of Orthodox church heritage. It is derived either from Larissa, a nymph in Greek mythology who was a daughter of Pelasgus, or from the name of the ancient city of Larissa in Greece which meant "citadel" or "fortress" in a now extinct Pre-Greek substrate language.
The name is spelled Λάρισα in modern Greek and Лариса in Cyrillic, and based on either may also be Latinised as Larisa. It is used in Russian, Ukrainian, Romanian, and Latvian languages. In 2009, Larisa was the 21st most common name for girls born in Romania.
A Russian short form is Lara, made famous through Boris Pasternak's novel Doctor Zhivago (1957).
Notable people with the name include:
Saint Larissa (died c.375), early martyr
Larissa Adler Lomnitz (1932–2019), French-born Chilean-Mexican social anthropologist
Larissa Anderson (born 1977), Australian basketball player
Larissa Araújo (born 1992), Brazilian handball player
Larissa Barata (born 1987), Brazilian rhythmic gymnast
Larissa Behrendt (born 1969), Australian legal academic, writer, filmmaker and Indigenous rights advocate
Larissa Bertényi (born 2000), Swiss hurdler
Larissa Burak (born 1968), Ukrainian-Australian bandurist and mezzo-soprano singer
Larissa Carvalho (born 1985), Brazilian tennis player
Larissa Carvalho (rugby union) (born 2003), Brazilian rugby sevens player
Larissa Chouaib (born 1966), Lebanese table tennis player
Larissa Cieslak (born 1987), Brazilian swimmer
Larissa Crummer (born 1996), Australian footballer
Larissa de Macedo Machado (Anitta)
Larissa Dias (born 1998), Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitor from Brazil
Larissa Eifler (born 1999), German fencer
Larissa FastHorse, American dramatist
Larissa Fiallo (born 1983), Miss Dominican Republic in the 2004 Miss Universe pageant
Larissa França (born 1982), Brazilian beach volleyball player
Larissa Franklin (born 1993), Canadian softball player
Larissa Grunig (born 1946), American public relations theorist
Larissa Henwood (born 1994), Brazil international rugby union player
Larissa Iapichino (born 2002), Italian female long jumper
Larissa Inangorore (born 1984), Burundian swimmer
Larissa Ione, American writer
Larissa Kalaus (born 1996), Croatian handball player
Larissa Kapitonova (born 1970), Russian footballer
Larissa Kaur (born 1941), Estonian ballerina
Larissa Keat (born 1989), Swiss-American actress, director, and performer
Larissa Kelly (born 1980), American scholar and Jeopardy! winner
Larissa Kojoue, Cameroonian academic and activist
Larissa Kosorukova (born 1973), Russian-born Israeli sprint canoer
Larissa Lai (born 1967), Canadian writer, critic and professor
Larissa Lam, American talk show host and music executive
Larissa Laskin, Canadian actress
Larissa Lezhnina (born 1969), Russian ballet dancer
Larissa Loyva, Canadian musician
Larissa Luz (born 1987), Brazilian singer-songwriter
Larissa MacFarquhar (born 1968), American writer
Larissa Maciel (born 1977), Brazilian actress
Larissa Manoela (born 2000), Brazilian actress and singer
Larissa-Antonia Marolt (born 1992), Austrian fashion model
Larissa Marolt (born 1992), Austrian fashion model and actress
Larissa Meek (born 1978), American model and beauty queen
Larissa Meijer (born 1990), Dutch field hockey player
Larissa Mondrus (born 1943), German stage name of Soviet expatriate singer
Larissa Nüsser (born 2000), Dutch handball player
Larissa Oliveira (born 1993), Brazilian swimmer
Larissa Zaleska Onyshkevych (born 1935), Ukrainian scholar
Larissa Pacheco (born 1994), Brazilian mixed martial arts fighter
Larissa Pauluis (born 1980), Belgian dressage rider
Larissa Pimenta (born 1999), Brazilian judoka
Larissa Queiroz (born 1984), Brazilian actress
Larissa Reissner (1895–1926), Russian writer and revolutionary
Larissa Riquelme (born 1985), Paraguayan model and actress
Larissa Robitschko (born 1998), Beauty pageant titleholder
Larissa Rodrigues (born 2004), Brazilian Paralympic swimmer
Larissa Rusek (born 2005, Austrian footballer
Larissa Schuster (born 1960), American convicted murderer and former biochemist
Larissa Tago Takeda, Japanese-Brazilian voice actress
Larissa Tudor (died 1926), woman rumored to be Grand Duchess Tatiana of Russia
Larissa Volokhonsky (born 1945), Russian-born translator
Larissa Werbicki (born 1996), Canadian rower
Larissa Zamotina (born 1967), Russian former competitive figure skater