Recorded 1900–2025 · United States
Vanessa was most popular in 1985, when 7,605 American babies were given the name — ranking #94 that year. In 2025 it ranked #784, with 813 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 262,606 people named Vanessa.
Vanessa first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1900, which makes it about 125 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 109 of the 126 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 262,606 American births named Vanessa between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 251,771 are estimated to be alive today.
813 American babies were named Vanessa in 2025, ranking #784 that year.
Vanessa is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 1,003 births a year, against 2,189 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -54% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Vanessa is a girl’s name — 99.6% of the 262,606 Americans given it were girls and 0.4% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 100% girls and 0% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 251,771 Americans named Vanessa are alive today — 96% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 36 years old, and half are between 25 and 46.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
English · coined by Jonathan Swift
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Vanessa on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org