Girl name English origin Christian tradition

Vanessa

və-NES-ə · 7 letters · 3 syllables
What it means
Butterfly; literary coinage by Jonathan Swift
Language
English
Culture
English;Greek
Religion
Christian
Style era
modern
Themes
literary · modern
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Popularity over time

2024 rank#335
2024 births933
Peak year1985
First appeared1900
Total US births260,793
1985 peak19001931196219932024
Source: US Social Security Administration national records, 1880-2024.

Nicknames & variants

Common nicknames
NessaNessVan
Alternate spellings
VannesaVenessaVanesa
In other languages
Vanesa (Spanish)Vanessza (Hungarian)

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Notable people named Vanessa

Vanessa Williams (singer)
Vanessa Redgrave (actress)
Vanessa Hudgens (actress)
Vanessa Bell (artist)