Raisa or Raissa is a female personal name. It is popular in Russia and South Asia (as a feminine form of Rais). It was also a historically typical female name amongst Jews of the Russian Empire, as a Hebrew and Yiddish origin variant.
Notable people named Raisa include: Raisa Akhmatova, internationally recognized Chechen poet Raisa Andriana, Indonesian singer Raisa Blokh, Russian poet Raisa Bogatyrova, Ukrainian politician Raisa Gorbacheva, wife of former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and a fundraiser for preservation of Russian heritage Raissa Khan-Panni, English singer Raissa Maritain, Russian-French philosopher and poet Rayisa Nedashkivska, Ukrainian and Soviet-era theater and cimema actress Raisa Orlova, Soviet/Russian writer and Americanist Raisa Smekhnova, former Soviet/Belarusian long-distance runner Raisa Smetanina, former Soviet/Russian Nordic skiing champion Raisa Surnachevskaya, Soviet World War II fighter pilot