girl's name
Vanessa
vuh-NESS-uh
- Origin English
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 3
- Letters 7
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 365,718
the United States
#377
2025 births
Vanessa was invented by Jonathan Swift around 1713, built from the name of a woman he was writing to — and it later became the name of a genus of butterflies. It charts in six of the seven markets we track.
- Vanessa is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 1985, when 7,605 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 4,078 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1900.
- 3 syllables, with the stress on syllable 2.
Vanessa over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1900s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1900s | 6 |
| 1910s | 35 |
| 1920s | 51 |
| 1930s | 124 |
| 1940s | 295 |
| 1950s | 19,218 |
| 1960s | 21,046 |
| 1970s | 28,188 |
| 1980s | 66,187 |
| 1990s | 58,134 |
| 2000s | 43,297 |
| 2010s | 19,624 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 6,401 |
What Vanessa means
Vanessa has no inherited meaning. It was coined from the syllables of a real woman's name, so the butterfly and star readings sometimes given for it are later inventions rather than derivations.
Where Vanessa comes from
Vanessa was made by Jonathan Swift for his poem Cadenus and Vanessa, written around 1713 and published in 1726. He built it from Esther Vanhomrigh, a young woman he corresponded with intensely for years: Van from her surname, Essa from a pet form of Esther. The poem became famous and the name escaped into use. In 1807 the entomologist Johan Christian Fabricius took Vanessa as the name of a butterfly genus, which now includes the red admiral and the painted lady — so a name invented for a private literary joke became a scientific classification, and any meaning now attached to it runs backwards from that.
Vanessa in use
Vanessa peaked in the United States in 1985, when 7,605 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 366th in Scotland on 9 births, 377th in the United States on 813, 432nd in Ireland, 723rd in England and Wales on 51 and 1195th in France, across 365,718 lifetime births in six of the seven markets we track. It is one of three names in this group — with Pamela and Amanda — whose invention can be dated to a specific literary text.
How popular is Vanessa?
In 2025, Vanessa was given to 813 babies in the United States, ranking #377 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Vanessa is used
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 Vanessa is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Vanéssa | Vanéssa is a rare spelling of Vanessa, written with an acute accent and recorded about 10 times, mostly in France. | 10 |
Names that peaked alongside Vanessa
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Vanessa also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Vanessa over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
2 nicknames for Vanessa
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Vanessa in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Vanessa
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Vanessa — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Vanessa
What does the name Vanessa mean?
Nothing inherited — Swift built it from Esther Vanhomrigh's name, so any meaning given for it is a later invention.
Who invented the name Vanessa?
Jonathan Swift, around 1713, for his poem Cadenus and Vanessa.
Is Vanessa a butterfly?
A genus of them, named in 1807 after the name — including the red admiral and the painted lady.
How popular is Vanessa?
377th in the United States, down from a 1985 peak of 7,605 births.
Is Vanessa a girl's or a boy's name?
Vanessa is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Vanessa?
Vanessa has 3 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Vanessa?
Vanessa is usually shortened to Ness and Nessa.
Is Vanessa a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Vanessa currently ranks #366 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.