At a Glance: Name: Vanessa – Origin: English (literary coinage, 18th century) – Gender: Girl – Pronunciation: vah-NESS-ah
Vanessa is an English (literary coinage, 18th century) girl's name.
Meaning & Origin of Vanessa
Origin: English (literary coinage, 18th century).
A common claim: Vanessa is widely said to mean 'butterfly.' Actually: Vanessa doesn't etymologically mean 'butterfly' -- the name came first (coined by Swift), and the butterfly genus Vanessa was named after it later, not the other way around.
Source: Wiktionary.
How to Pronounce Vanessa
Phonetic: vah-NESS-ah IPA: /vəˈnɛsə/
Popularity of Vanessa
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration birth-name data, 1900–2024.
