# Vanessa (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/vanessa/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /vəˈnɛsə/, 3 syllables |
| Nicknames | Van, Nessa |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 262,606 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 984 / 261,622 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 3,747, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

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).

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 2,620 | 120 |
| 2012 | 2,554 | 123 |
| 2013 | 2,095 | 152 |
| 2014 | 1,927 | 171 |
| 2015 | 1,729 | 187 |
| 2016 | 1,664 | 197 |
| 2017 | 1,521 | 203 |
| 2018 | 1,378 | 231 |
| 2019 | 1,224 | 272 |
| 2020 | 1,384 | 209 |
| 2021 | 1,226 | 253 |
| 2022 | 1,026 | 311 |
| 2023 | 1,014 | 304 |
| 2024 | 938 | 335 |
| 2025 | 813 | 377 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 13 | 5,149 |
| 1999 | 10 | 6,506 |
| 2000 | 12 | 5,894 |
| 2001 | 8 | 8,295 |
| 2002 | 5 | 12,396 |
| 2003 | 6 | 10,821 |
| 2004 | 9 | 8,115 |
| 2005 | 8 | 9,051 |
| 2006 | 6 | 11,974 |
| 2007 | 8 | 9,735 |
| 2008 | 6 | 12,460 |
| 2010 | 6 | 12,122 |
| 2011 | 6 | 12,193 |
| 2013 | 7 | 10,658 |
| 2014 | 5 | 13,944 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 194 | 253 |
| 2012 | 151 | 322 |
| 2013 | 166 | 284 |
| 2014 | 172 | 279 |
| 2015 | 176 | 279 |
| 2016 | 134 | 356 |
| 2017 | 132 | 357 |
| 2018 | 98 | 442 |
| 2019 | 72 | 562 |
| 2020 | 56 | 665 |
| 2021 | 79 | 517 |
| 2022 | 69 | 562 |
| 2023 | 71 | 545 |
| 2024 | 73 | 533 |
| 2025 | 51 | 719 |

## In other languages

- Arabic: فانيسا
- Bulgarian: Ванеса
- Catalan: Vanessa
- Chinese: 瓦妮莎
- Czech: Vanesa
- Danish: Vanessa
- Esperanto: Vanesa
- French: Vanessa
- German: Vanessa
- Greek: Βανέσσα
- Hebrew: וונסה
- Hindi: वैनेसा
- Italian: Vanessa
- Japanese: ヴァネサ, ヴァネッサ
- Korean: 바네사
- Portuguese: Vanessa
- Russian: Ване́сса
- Spanish: Vanesa
- Ukrainian: Ване́сса

## 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)
- Vanessa Kirby, British actress (born 1987)
- Vanessa-Mae, British violinist
- Vanessa Carlton, American singer-songwriter
- Vanessa Morgan, Canadian actress, singer and model
- Vanessa Ferlito, American actress
- Vanessa Marano, American actress
- Vanessa Marcil, American actress
- Vanessa Lachey, Filipino actress

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.