first name
VANESSA
of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census
Of the 239,196 people named Vanessa, 49.7% reported their origin as Hispanic or Latino, 28.8% as White and 14.1% as Black. Virtually all are female (99.9%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.
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Vanessa peaked in 1985, when 7,605 babies got the name.
At least 262,606 babies have been given the name since 1900. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.
Vanessa by decade
Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1980s, when it ranked #105. The largest share of babies named Vanessa, 39.2%, were born between 1981 and 1996, as millennials.
Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.
Where Vanessa is most common
Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Vanessa has been most common in California (2.4×), Arizona (2.2×), and Nevada (2.1×), and least common in Vermont (0.19×).
260,384 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.
Either side of Vanessa
Spelled almost the same
8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Vanessa, most common first.
Compare
🔎 VANESSA 🟦🟦🟦🟦⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 1 in 1,263 Americans More common than 55.4% of us Peaked in 1985 with 7,605 babies Beat that 👇 https://howrareismy.name/first/vanessa/