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Greetings,
Here's the information we found on the name "Charissa."
Unfortunately, we found no evidence that "Charissa" was used as a personal name in our period. The best research we found says that it came into use only after Edmund Spenser used the name in "The Faerie Queene" in 1590. (1) Our research suggests that he took the name from a classical goddess "Charis" (2), not from any use by real people.
In the past, the SCA College of Arms has accepted Spenser's use of "Charissa" as justification for registering it, but that registration does not mean that the name was actually used in period. The College gives its clients the benefit of the doubt in most cases. We're purely concerned with the historical evidence for the name, and it's quite clear that there's no evidence that "Charissa" was used in period, or that it follows a pattern of names used in period.
We can suggest the name "Clarissa," which is a fairly common medieval name. (The most common spelling is "Clarice," which in Middle English is pronounced just like the modern "Clarissa.")
We can't offer a definitive answer about the origins of children's names. We do know that names were commonly used through generations, so that certain families would use the same names for a long time. In some areas of England both children were named after ancestors from both sides of their family; in others they were mainly named after their father's relatives. There are periods in English history where most people used a small number of names, and other periods where unusual names were more popular. More specific answers depend on your period of interest.
Arval D'Espas Nord, Hartmann Rogge, Effric neyn Kenyeoch vc Ralte, and Tangwystl verch Morgant Glasvryn contributed to this letter.
We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to work with you.
In service,
Alan Fairfax
Academy of S. Gabriel
(1) Withycombe, "Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names."
(2) "Lempriere's Classical Dictionary of Proper Names Mentioned in Ancient Authors"