Vanessa

Where Vanessa comes from

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).
— Wiktionary's entry for Vanessa
  • 3 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1900
    First appearance
    #1,723 among girls, 6 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1972
    Vanessa Paradis born
    French singer, model and actress
  3. 1988
    Vanessa Hudgens born
    American actress and singer
  4. 1988
    Peak, #41
    7,516 babies named Vanessa — more than any year before or since.
  5. 2009
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #91.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name originating as a coinage.
Namesakes
  • Vanessa Hudgens · American actress and singer, born 1988
  • Vanessa Paradis · French singer, model and actress, born 1972
  • Vanessa Redgrave · British actress and activist, born 1937
  • Vanessa Williams · American actress, singer and former Miss America, born 1963
  • Vanessa Kirby · British actress, born 1988

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.