girl's name

Nessa

  • Gender Girl
  • Syllables 2
  • Letters 5
  • Popularity Uncommon
  • Births on record 3,773

Ireland

#244

2025 births

Nessa is a girl's name with 2 syllables. In 2025 it was given to 63 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.

  • Peaked in 2016, when 83 babies were given the name.
  • It has been rising over the past decade.
  • Today about 1 in 52,626 babies in the United States is given this name.
  • First appears in US birth records in 1935.
  • 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.

Nessa over time

Births per decade in the United States, 1930s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.

458
'30 '40 '60 '70 '80 '90 '00 '10 '20
Show the numbers
Births named Nessa by decade in the United States
Decade Births
1930s 5
1940s 11
1960s 12
1970s 73
1980s 105
1990s 139
2000s 225
2010s 458
2020s (to 2025) 340

How popular is Nessa?

In 2025, Nessa was given to 63 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.

Where Nessa is used

Ireland #244 18 in 2025
Northern Ireland #398 4 in 2024
Canada #1,534 16 in 2024
France #1,754 20 in 2025
England & Wales #1,792 17 in 2025
United States #2,744 63 in 2025

The bar shows how near the top of each country's list the name sits, on a scale where #1 fills the row and #1,000 is a sliver. The figures beside it are the real rank and the babies recorded that year.

US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.

How Nessa is spelled

Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.

Spelling What it is Births on record
Néssa Néssa is a rare spelling of Nessa, written with an acute accent and recorded about 15 times, mostly in France. 15

Names that peaked alongside Nessa

These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.

Parents who like Nessa also like

Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Nessa over the last century — the same taste, a different name.

Sibling names for Nessa

Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Nessa — the two things that make a sibling set grate.

Common questions about Nessa

How popular is the name Nessa?

In 2025, Nessa was given to 63 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.

Is Nessa a girl's or a boy's name?

Nessa is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.

How many syllables are in Nessa?

Nessa has 2 syllables.

When was Nessa most popular?

Nessa peaked in 2016, when 83 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.

Is Nessa a good name?

That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Nessa currently ranks #244 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.