Vanessa
Vanessa was given to 813 girls in 2025, #377 among girls’ names; 262,606 Americans have been recorded with it since 1900 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 250,000 Americans named Vanessa and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (95% of everyone recorded); the median is 36 years old and half are between 25 and 46.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Vanessa by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Vanessa mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Vanessa is “a female given name originating as a coinage.”
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).
/vəˈnɛsə/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Vanessa?
#377 among girls’ names, 2025
Vanessa fell from #187 in 2015 to #377 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 1.0 to 0.51 per 1,000.
7,605 babies in 1985, the peak
Vanessa peaked in 1985, when 7,605 babies were given it (7,563 girls, #42 among girls’ names). The 813 births of 2025 are 11% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 813 | #377 | 0.51 |
| 2024 | 938 | #335 | 0.58 |
| 2023 | 1,014 | #304 | 0.63 |
| 2022 | 1,026 | #311 | 0.63 |
| 2021 | 1,226 | #253 | 0.75 |
| 2020 | 1,384 | #209 | 0.86 |
| 2019 | 1,224 | #272 | 0.73 |
| 2018 | 1,378 | #231 | 0.81 |
| 2017 | 1,521 | #203 | 0.88 |
| 2016 | 1,664 | #197 | 0.94 |
Every recorded year (109)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 1,729 | #187 | 1.0 |
| 2014 | 1,927 | #171 | 1.1 |
| 2013 | 2,095 | #152 | 1.2 |
| 2012 | 2,554 | #123 | 1.5 |
| 2011 | 2,620 | #120 | 1.5 |
| 2010 | 2,888 | #107 | 1.6 |
| 2009 | 3,523 | #91 | 1.9 |
| 2008 | 4,032 | #78 | 2.1 |
| 2007 | 4,447 | #71 | 2.3 |
| 2006 | 4,169 | #79 | 2.2 |
| 2005 | 4,095 | #80 | 2.2 |
| 2004 | 4,350 | #75 | 2.4 |
| 2003 | 4,352 | #70 | 2.4 |
| 2002 | 4,455 | #68 | 2.5 |
| 2001 | 4,672 | #64 | 2.6 |
| 2000 | 5,134 | #62 | 2.8 |
| 1999 | 5,287 | #57 | 3.0 |
| 1998 | 5,830 | #52 | 3.3 |
| 1997 | 5,796 | #54 | 3.3 |
| 1996 | 5,746 | #60 | 3.3 |
| 1995 | 5,404 | #63 | 3.1 |
| 1994 | 5,552 | #59 | 3.1 |
| 1993 | 5,890 | #55 | 3.3 |
| 1992 | 6,080 | #55 | 3.3 |
| 1991 | 5,926 | #56 | 3.2 |
| 1990 | 6,409 | #56 | 3.4 |
| 1989 | 6,962 | #50 | 3.8 |
| 1988 | 7,516 | #41 | 4.2 |
| 1987 | 7,348 | #43 | 4.2 |
| 1986 | 7,469 | #43 | 4.4 |
| 1985 | 7,563 | #42 | 4.4 |
| 1984 | 7,156 | #45 | 4.2 |
| 1983 | 6,388 | #49 | 3.8 |
| 1982 | 6,154 | #49 | 3.6 |
| 1981 | 4,749 | #62 | 2.8 |
| 1980 | 4,426 | #69 | 2.7 |
| 1979 | 4,102 | #75 | 2.6 |
| 1978 | 3,853 | #76 | 2.5 |
| 1977 | 3,209 | #90 | 2.1 |
| 1976 | 2,463 | #106 | 1.7 |
| 1975 | 2,440 | #115 | 1.7 |
| 1974 | 2,353 | #122 | 1.6 |
| 1973 | 2,144 | #134 | 1.5 |
| 1972 | 2,280 | #133 | 1.5 |
| 1971 | 2,657 | #129 | 1.6 |
| 1970 | 2,576 | #138 | 1.5 |
| 1969 | 2,234 | #147 | 1.3 |
| 1968 | 1,797 | #181 | 1.1 |
| 1967 | 1,869 | #170 | 1.1 |
| 1966 | 1,643 | #197 | 1.0 |
| 1965 | 1,632 | #203 | 0.92 |
| 1964 | 2,056 | #183 | 1.1 |
| 1963 | 2,032 | #188 | 1.1 |
| 1962 | 2,244 | #175 | 1.1 |
| 1961 | 2,765 | #153 | 1.4 |
| 1960 | 2,711 | #155 | 1.3 |
| 1959 | 3,120 | #139 | 1.5 |
| 1958 | 2,744 | #148 | 1.4 |
| 1957 | 2,379 | #159 | 1.2 |
| 1956 | 2,617 | #145 | 1.3 |
| 1955 | 2,698 | #140 | 1.4 |
| 1954 | 2,643 | #142 | 1.4 |
| 1953 | 2,007 | #164 | 1.1 |
| 1952 | 695 | #303 | 0.37 |
| 1951 | 176 | #656 | 0.10 |
| 1950 | 91 | #942 | 0.05 |
| 1949 | 70 | #1,075 | 0.04 |
| 1948 | 69 | #1,068 | 0.04 |
| 1947 | 59 | #1,180 | 0.03 |
| 1946 | 14 | #2,730 | 0.01 |
| 1945 | 19 | #1,987 | 0.01 |
| 1944 | 13 | #2,616 | 0.01 |
| 1943 | 10 | #3,230 | 0.01 |
| 1942 | 16 | #2,306 | 0.01 |
| 1941 | 11 | #2,830 | 0.01 |
| 1940 | 14 | #2,290 | 0.01 |
| 1939 | 7 | #3,756 | 0.01 |
| 1938 | 15 | #2,212 | 0.01 |
| 1937 | 17 | #1,994 | 0.02 |
| 1936 | 20 | #1,739 | 0.02 |
| 1935 | 32 | #1,304 | 0.03 |
| 1933 | 7 | #3,717 | 0.01 |
| 1932 | 9 | #3,254 | 0.01 |
| 1931 | 7 | #3,814 | 0.01 |
| 1930 | 10 | #3,038 | 0.01 |
| 1929 | 5 | #5,229 | under 0.01 |
| 1928 | 6 | #4,686 | 0.01 |
| 1927 | 5 | #5,548 | under 0.01 |
| 1925 | 9 | #3,639 | 0.01 |
| 1923 | 9 | #3,622 | 0.01 |
| 1922 | 6 | #4,965 | under 0.01 |
| 1921 | 5 | #5,806 | under 0.01 |
| 1920 | 6 | #4,927 | 0.01 |
| 1919 | 6 | #4,768 | 0.01 |
| 1917 | 6 | #4,554 | 0.01 |
| 1916 | 8 | #3,525 | 0.01 |
| 1915 | 10 | #2,883 | 0.01 |
| 1913 | 5 | #3,665 | 0.01 |
| 1900 | 6 | #1,918 | 0.02 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Vanessa a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Vanessa has been given almost only to girls: 984 boys in 109 years of records.
Girls and boys named Vanessa: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Vanessa, and how old are they?
250,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 95% of the 262,606 Americans ever recorded as Vanessa. The median Vanessa alive today is 36 years old; half are between 25 and 46.
The 2020 Census counted 239,196 people named Vanessa (238,897 women and girls, 299 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 247,602 born in the U.S. The Census count is 3% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 72 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 25,700 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 39,100 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 100,000 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 67,500 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 17,800 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Vanessa born?
The states with the most babies named Vanessa are California, Texas and New York, with 44% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 63,335 | #283 | 1.9× |
| Texas | 31,527 | #344 | 1.4× |
| New York | 19,232 | #366 | 1.0× |
| Illinois | 13,410 | #289 | 1.1× |
| Florida | 13,196 | #262 | 1.2× |
| New Jersey | 7,646 | #402 | 1.0× |
| Pennsylvania | 7,226 | #556 | 0.6× |
| Arizona | 7,101 | #355 | 1.6× |
| Ohio | 6,129 | #561 | 0.5× |
| Michigan | 5,688 | #315 | 0.6× |
Where Vanessa is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Vanessa is most over-represented in California: since 1910 it was given 1.9 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Vanessa with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 274,563 babies since 1880, Vanessa is the most given (96% of them). In 2025 it was given to 813 of their 841 babies (97%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Vanessa
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Vanessa and names like it
- Compare Vanessa and VanesaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1980sVanessa peaked in 1985.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Vanessa since 1910.
- Coined namesWiktionary’s origin for Vanessa: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1985The year the most babies were named Vanessa.
- The names of the MillennialsMost people named Vanessa alive today were born 1981-1996.
- Names starting with VMost given first.