Girl · English (literary coinage) · Christian
Vanessa
VanessaSay it va-NES-a
- Meaning today
- Butterfly
- In the dictionaries
- No dictionary meaning confirmed for the name itself
- Say it
- va-NES-a
- Other spellings
- Vanesa, Venessa
Vanessa
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Vanessa meaning
Vanessa is a Christian girl's name of English origin (literary coinage).
Meaning today
Butterfly
In the dictionaries
We haven't confirmed a dictionary meaning for the name itself. The meaning above is how families commonly use it.
Vanessa is one of the few names with a known inventor. The Irish writer Jonathan Swift made it up for his pupil and friend Esther Vanhomrigh, taking Van- from her surname and Essa, a pet form of Esther, and used it in his poem 'Cadenus and Vanessa', published in 1726. So the name has no older meaning of its own. Many name lists call it 'butterfly', because in 1807 the entomologist Fabricius gave the name Vanessa to a genus of butterflies, probably after Swift's heroine. In India Vanessa is used mainly in Christian families.
References: Wikipedia, Vanessa (name) · Evans, 'Vanessa' study in Names (ANS)
Famous namesakes
- Vanessa Bell, English painter
Popularity abroad
- #377 United States, girls 2025 (down 42 from 335 in 2024)
US Social Security Administration - #719 England and Wales, girls 2025
Office for National Statistics
Official birth registrations. India publishes no national name statistics.
Spellings
Vanessa · Vanesa · Venessa