Vanessa
Girl nameVanessa has been given to 262,606 babies in the U.S. since 1900. It peaked in 1985 and currently ranks #377 for girls (2025).
Meaning & origin /vəˈnɛsə/
Coined by Jonathan Swift in the 18th century as a pseudonym for a lady friend named Esther Vanhomrigh (or Van Homrigh), an Irish woman of Dutch descent, by taking the Dutch preposition van from her surname and adding -essa (perhaps influenced by the first syllable of Esther).
Origin: coinages
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Popularity over time births per year, 1880–2025
Total babies
262,606
Peak year
1985 (7,605 babies)
Rank in 2025
#377 for girls
First recorded
1900
10-year trend
▼ -53%
Gender split
100% girls / 0% boys
Famous people named Vanessa
Vanessa Hudgens
American actress and singer (born 1988)
Vanessa Paradis
French singer, model and actress
Vanessa Redgrave
British actress and activist (born 1937)
Vanessa Williams
American actress, singer and former Miss America (born 1963)
Notability data from Wikidata (CC0).
Names with a similar vibe
Same primary gender, peaked around the same years, and roughly as common as Vanessa.
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