How Many People Are Named Vanessa?
people named Vanessa are alive in the United States today (estimate)
About 1 in 1,362 people in the US has this name
Based on 262,606 babies named Vanessa in Social Security records from 1900 to 2025, and the share of each birth year still alive in 2025.
Popularity Rank
⭐ Uncommon
Peak Year
7,605 births
Trend
Stable (last 10 years)
📖 Name Origin & Meaning
Meaning:
Invented by author Jonathan Swift for his poem 'Cadenus and Vanessa' (1726). He arrived at it by rearranging the initial syllables of the first name and surname of Esther Vanhomrigh, his close friend. Vanessa was later used as the name of a genus of butterfly. It was a rare given name until the mid-20th century, at which point it became fairly popular.
Source of the meaning, origin, pronunciation and related names: Behind the Name.
⚧ Gender Distribution
Almost all of the babies given the name Vanessa (99.6%) were girls.
👥 Age Distribution
The average person named Vanessa alive today is about 36 years old, and 53% are between 30 and 59. Half of them were between 24 and 45 in 2025.
📈 Popularity Over Time
Vanessa first appears in the records in 1900 and was given most often in 1985, to 7,605 babies. In 2025, 813 babies got the name.
Babies given the name each year, 1900 to 2025
🏆 Rank History
Vanessa never made the top 10 girls' names. Its best rank was #41, in 1988, and it was in the top 100 for 33 years, 1977 to 2009. In 2025 it ranked #377.
| Girls | |
|---|---|
| Rank in 2025 | #377 |
| Best rank | #41 (1988) |
| Years in the top 100 | 33 (1977 to 2009) |
| Rank in its biggest decade | #48 in the 1980s |
📍 State-Wise Distribution
People named Vanessa alive today, by the state where they were born (estimate; state records start in 1910).
More people named Vanessa were born in California than in any other state: about 61,673 of those alive today. Compared with the national rate in the same years, Vanessa was given 1.9 times as often in New Mexico, 1.8 times in California and 1.7 times in Arizona.
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