Declining since 1988.
Popularity of Vannesa since 1955
Babies named Vannesa per year in U.S. Social Security records. Raw births topped out in 1990, but relative to how few babies were recorded back then, Vannesa's real moment was 1998.
Data table (by decade)
| Decade | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1950s | 5 |
| 1960s | 6 |
| 1970s | 59 |
| 1980s | 316 |
| 1990s | 444 |
| 2000s | 312 |
| 2010s | 78 |
| 2020s | 0 |
Meaning & origin
Vannesa is a modern respelling of Vanessa, a name that was first recorded in the United States in 1955. The name never achieved high national rank; its peak came in 1998 with a rank of 222, but it has since fallen in usage. According to Social Security data, Vannesa has been on a downward trajectory since 1988, and by 2005 it dropped out of the top 1000. It reflects a pattern of invented or respelled names that gained moderate popularity in the late 20th century, particularly among American families. The spelling Vannesa remains rarer than the standard Vanessa.
Vannesa is a variant spelling of Vanessa, a name coined by the Anglo-Irish author Jonathan Swift in the early 18th century. Swift created the name by combining the first syllables of the names of his friend Esther Vanhomrigh: 'Van' from her surname and 'Essa' from her given name Esther. While Vanessa has been in use since Swift's poem, Vannesa emerged as a modern respelling in the mid-20th century, particularly in the United States.
Nicknames & variants
Nicknames: Nessa, Vanna, Van, Nessi
Sibling names for Vannesa
Names that share Vannesa's style, for a brother or sister.
