How to say it
va · NES · sa
/vəˈnɛs.ə/
Feminine
Vanessa
A literary coinage
What it means
Invented by Jonathan Swift for his friend Esther Vanhomrigh, blending 'Van' from her surname with 'Essa,' a pet form of Esther.
Vanessa is one of the rare names with a known inventor. The writer Jonathan Swift coined it in the early 1700s for his close friend Esther Vanhomrigh, stitching 'Van' from her surname to 'Essa,' an affectionate form of Esther. A naturalist later borrowed it for a genus of butterflies. It reads polished and a little glamorous, and shortens to Nessa or Ness.
Popularity over time
peaked at #41 in 1988, currently #377 in 2025.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, names given to at least 5 babies in a year, 1880–present. See where the names are moving
Heads-up notes
- Nickname
Nessa and Ness are the shorts.
- Pop culture
Coined by Jonathan Swift; later a butterfly genus.
Who's worn it
Historical figures, characters, and public faces who share the name. The cultural surface, for whatever weight you want to give it.
- Vanessa Redgrave English actress
- Vanessa Williams American singer and actress
Spelling variants
- Vanesa
- Venessa
- Vanessza
Names with the same feeling
See Vanessa from another angle
By style