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Melissa is a given name for a female child. The name comes from the Greek word μέλισσα (''melissa''), "honey bee",〔(μέλισσα ), Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus.〕 which in turn comes from μέλι (''meli''), "honey".〔(μέλι ), Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus〕〔(Lexicon of Greek Personal Names ), Oxford〕 In Hittite ''melit'' signifies "honey".〔Ivanov, V. 1963 ''The Hittite Language'' (Moscow): ''melt'' is among the brief examples given in (Common Anatolian Glossary )〕 Thus the name is the approximate Greek equivalent for the Hebrew name Deborah (דְּבוֹרָה), meaning bee. ''Melissa'' also refers to the plant ''Melissa officinalis'' (Lamiaceae family), known as lemon balm. Melisa is a common variant form, with others being Malissa, Melesa, Melessa, Meliza, Mellisa, Melosa, and Molissa.〔http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/0/Melisa〕 In Ireland it is sometimes used as a feminine form of the Gaelic male name ''Maoilíosa'', which means "servant of Jesus". According to Greek mythology, perhaps reflecting Minoan culture, making her the daughter of a Cretan king Melissos, whose ''-issos'' ending is pre-Greek,〔David Sacks, Oswyn Murray, 1995. ''A Dictionary of the Ancient Greek World'' ''s.v.'' "Names": "Narcissus...the pre-Greek ending of his name".〕 Melissa was a nymph who discovered and taught the use of honey and from whom bees were believed to have received their name.〔(Greek Myth Index )〕 She was one of the nymph nurses of Zeus, sister to Amaltheia, but rather than feeding the baby milk, Melissa, appropriately for her name, fed him honey. Or, alternatively, the bees brought honey straight to his mouth. Because of her, ''Melissa'' became the name of all the nymphs who cared for the patriarch god as a baby.〔(Women in Greek Myths )〕 == Popularity == Melissa became a popular name in the United States during the 1950s. Very popular from the 1960s through the 1990s, today Melissa is somewhat of a rare baby name; in 2010, fewer than 2,500 girls were given the name, compared with around 10,000 in 1993 and well over 30,000 at the name's peak popularity in 1979.〔http://www.babynameshub.com/baby-names-girls/Melissa.html〕 In 2007, Melissa was the 137th most popular name for girls born in the United States, dropping steadily from its peak of second place in 1977. It was among the top ten most popular names for girls from 1967 to 1984. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Melissa」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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