Vanessa
2025 SSA
Below 5 births
About Vanessa
Vanessa was invented by writer Jonathan Swift for a lover named Esther Vanhomrigh—he combined the first syllable of her last name with the initial syllable of her first. Swift used it in the poem Cadenus and Vanessa in 1713. A century later, Johan Christian Fabricius used Vanessa as the name of a genus of butterfly.
Vanessa was one of the ultra-feminine three-syllable hits of the eighties, but has proved to have had more staying power than others like Tiffany, Kimberly, and Melissa, due to its classic beauty.
Vanessa Redgrave is the doyenne of the renowned Redgrave family; Vanessa Hudgens, the young actor and singer from High School Musical is a more youthful bearer. On TV there have been Vanessas on The Cosby Show, Gossip Girl and Vampire Diaries.
Vanessa is also given to boys.
Pronounced vuh-NES-uh.
As of October 2026, Vanessa ranked #377 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #41 in 1988, Nameberry popularity #509.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank · girls | Births · girls | US rank · boys | Births · boys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #171 | 1,927 | — | 0 |
| 2015 | #187 | 1,729 | — | 0 |
| 2016 | #197 | 1,663 | — | 0 |
| 2017 | #203 | 1,521 | — | 0 |
| 2018 | #231 | 1,378 | — | 0 |
| 2019 | #272 | 1,224 | — | 0 |
| 2020 | #209 | 1,383 | — | 0 |
| 2021 | #253 | 1,226 | — | 0 |
| 2022 | #311 | 1,026 | — | 0 |
| 2023 | #304 | 1,012 | — | 0 |
| 2024 | #335 | 933 | — | 0 |
| 2025 | #377 | 813 | — | 0 |
World rankings
Vanessa for girls
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Vanessa.
Vanessa on lists
Famous Vanessas
- Vanessa RedgraveGirl
English actress
- Vanessa Anne HudgensGirl
American actress
- Vanessa BellGirl
English painter; sister of novelist Virginia Woolf
- Vanessa Lynn WilliamsGirl
American actress and singer, Miss America 1983
- Vanessa Estelle WilliamsGirl
American actress
- Vanessa KirbyGirl
English actress
- VanessaGirl
Mae Vanakorn Nicholson, British violinist
- Vanessa Joy MinnilloGirl
American TV host and actress
- Vanessa Lee CarltonGirl
American singer,songwriter
- Vanessa ZahorianGirl
American ballerina
- Vanessa VadimGirl
French,American film producer, daughter of actress Jane Fonda
- Vanessa Alice BensimonGirl
French graffiti artist, known as "Miss Van"
- Vanessa BeecroftGirl
Italian performance artist
- Vanessa Haydon TrumpGirl
daughter,in,law to President Donald Trump
- Vanessa Marie BryantGirl
wife of basketball player Kobe Bryant
- Vanessa BrunoGirl
French fashion designer
- Vanessa Fallon RohannaGirl
Australian children's performer
- Vanessa EviganGirl
American actress
- Vanessa Jo MerrellGirl
twin sister of Veronica Merrell, YouTuber, fashion designer
- Vanessa Gleason (b. 1979) American model & actressGirl
Playboy Playmate of the Month for September 1998
- Vanessa Sue DiBernardoGirl
American soccer player
- Vanessa Adriana NadalGirl
lawyer, chemical engineer and professor, wife of Lin,Manuel Miranda.
Vanessa in pop culture
- Vanessa WeatherfordGirl
Panessa Baegotti
- Vanessa AbramsGirl
character on TV's "Gossip Girl".
- Vanessa HuxtableGirl
character on TV's "The Cosby Show".
- Vanessa BennettGirl
character on American soap "All My Children".
- Vanessa TurnbillGirl
character in 2000 movie "Cut".
- Vanessa DoofenshmirtzGirl
character on animated series "Phineas and Ferb".
- Vanessa KensingtonGirl
character in the Austin Powers series.
- VanessaGirl
character in movie "Big Daddy".
- Vanessa LoringGirl
character in movie "Juno".
- Vanessa MonroeGirl
character on TV's "The Vampire Diaries".
- Vanessa HansenGirl
character in movie "City by the Sea".
- Vanessa MoschellaGirl
character on TV's "Da Vinci's Demons".
- VanessaGirl
character in movie "Corvette Summer".
- Vanessa IvesGirl
main character on TV's "Penny Dreadful".
- VanessaGirl
Ursula's human form in Disney's "The Little Mermaid".
- Vanessa PikeGirl
The Baby,sitters Club character.
- VanessaGirl
Wade Wilson's girlfriend in the movie "Deadpool".
- Vanessa MoritaGirl
character on Disney's Backstage.
- Vanessa WrigleyGirl
character on TV's "Odd Mom Out".
- VanessaGirl
character in In The Heights.
- Vanessa SantoroGirl
character in the "Fablehaven" series by Brandon Mull
- Vanessa Anne “Van” PalmerGirl
character in series "Yellowjackets"