It’s a vacation planet on "Star Trek." But some women here want to know
how on Earth they got the uncommon name, "Risa."
Is it Hebrew, Latin, Spanish, French, or just a mother’s whim?
For a title whose holders are relatively few, it has many different spellings
— Reesa, Resa, Reza, Riza, Reisa, Riesa, Rise, Ritza, Rizsa, Raisa, etc. What
better place for these uniquely named women to find each other than on the
Internet?
Of 41 women who posted in the Reesa Society discussion group when it started
in November 1998, 14 were named after a grandmother or great-grandmother. In
most cases, the grandmother’s name was not actually Risa, but a similar-sounding
moniker such as Ruth, Reba, Riva, Rebecca, or Rose.
Quite a few who took the "Reesa Survey" cited opera singer Risė Stevens
(who appeared in such movies as "Going My Way" with Bing Crosby in the ‘50s) as
their parents’ inspiration for the appellation. For others, it was their father,
Reese or Reece, from whom the name derived.
One Risa, who was named after her Russian-Jewish grandmother, Ritza, said
that in Hebrew, Reesa is a computer program that "keeps on running." As a child,
this Risa was teased so much about her name that she changed it to Lisa in
junior high school.
As an adult, she came to appreciate it.
"Risa is mentioned once in the Bible," she said. "It was a stop in the desert
when Moses and his followers were wandering around for 40 years."
Several women referred to a Christian Biblical note as the source of their
name. Graphic artist Rhesa Langley, whose father is a minister, said her name
came from Luke 3:27. "It describes the genealogy of Jesus, and Rhesa is one of
the names in there," she explained. "It's actually a man's name — I know it's so
because the scripture only lists the father and sons."
In Latin, Risa means "laughter" or "one who laughs." Chicago accountant Reesa
Kelly is dating a man from Latin America.
"He always sings this song to me in Spanish with the word `Risa’ in it," she
says. "It’s great."
The culture/religion of the first women who took the survey or posted
comments on the Reesa Society Web site was:
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17, Jewish
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1, Lutheran
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1, Southern Presbyterian
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1, Irish
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2, Japanese/part-Japanese
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1, Norwegian, English, French
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1, Indonesian
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1, Muslim
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1, Filipino/Mexican/Native American
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18, not identified
When she was growing up, Reesa Ryan says she was always told that the name
came from medieval German and means "woman giant." She finds it amusing that
after years of thinking she was the "only one," the Internet showed her
otherwise. When she tried to register for an e-mail address, the name "Reesa"
was already taken.
