Masterpiece Generator Name Generator
How popular is the name Vanessa?
Births per year, rank history and how many Vanessas are alive today.
Vanessa (female), once a common girls' name, is now an uncommon choice for new babies in England and Wales, ranked 719th in 2025 with 51 given the name. The name peaked in 1974, when around 370 babies were given the name, the 68th most popular that year. It has declined since 1974; the 2025 figure is roughly 14% of its peak. Numbers have been stable in recent years. At least 10,000 babies have been named Vanessa in England and Wales since 1974. Figures before 1996 are estimates.
The Vanessa you are most likely to meet is around 51 years old - or else around 16: the name has two living generations. Half of all Vanessas born in England and Wales are between 27 and 51, and there are at least 12,000 of them alive today. If you walk into a room of 100 females, there's roughly a 3.7% chance that at least one of them will be called Vanessa.
How many babies are named Vanessa each year?
Where does Vanessa rank among girls' names?
Where this data comes from
Figures from 1996 onwards are the Office for National Statistics' annual baby-name registrations for England and Wales, which record every name given to three or more babies in a year. Figures before 1996 are estimates: the ONS published only top-100 rankings at ten-year intervals back to 1904, so counts for those years are modelled from the rankings, calibrated against Douglas Galbi's long-run research into English name frequencies, and shown with an uncertainty band. Estimates of living bearers combine these birth figures with national life tables and ONS mid-year population estimates.
One limit worth naming: these figures count names as registered at birth. Anyone who changes their name later in life - including trans people, and anyone who adopts a different name by deed poll or simply by use - is not reflected here. Birth registrations record where a name began, not the name a person lives with.
Common questions
When was the name Vanessa most popular?
Vanessa peaked in 1974, when around 370 babies in England and Wales were given the name.
How many people are called Vanessa?
At least 12,000 people named Vanessa born in England and Wales are alive today.
How old is the typical Vanessa?
Most living Vanessas are between 27 and 51; the most common age is about 51. There is a second cluster around 16.
Is Vanessa becoming more or less popular?
Well past its peak: today's figures are a fraction of the 1974 peak, though numbers have levelled off in recent years.