Vanessa

Vanessa: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning: “invented literary name”
Origin: English
Say it: vuh-NESS-uh · 3 syllables
Used for: Girls

Vanessa was coined by Jonathan Swift for Esther Vanhomrigh, blending Van from her surname with Essa from Esther. It later became established as a given name and also names a butterfly genus.

English names Literary names Modern names

How popular is Vanessa?

2024280 per million US babies

Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Compare with another name

Babies named Vanessa in 2024933

2024 rank#335 girls

Peak year1985

Total US babies since 1880261,777

Vanessa is fading: recent use is about 51% of its level ten years before.

Names like Vanessa

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

Vanesabutterfly · Greek
Venessabutterfly · Greek
Oliviaolive tree · English
Evelyndesired; little bird · English
Harperharp player · English
Violetviolet flower · English
Hazelhazel tree · English
Ellieshort form of names ending in -el or -ella · English

Vanessa questions

What does the name Vanessa mean?

Vanessa means "invented literary name". It comes from English. Vanessa was coined by Jonathan Swift for Esther Vanhomrigh, blending Van from her surname with Essa from Esther. It later became established as a given name and also names a butterfly genus.

Is Vanessa a boy or girl name?

Vanessa is mainly a girl's name in US records (100% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Vanessa?

933 US babies were named Vanessa in 2024. Its peak year was 1985.

How do you pronounce Vanessa?

Vanessa is usually pronounced vuh-NESS-uh.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.