Vanessa
\va.nɛ.sa\♀French girl's name
A French girl's name of English origin.
At a glance
| Gender | Feminine |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Pronunciation | \va.nɛ.sa\ |
| Also spelled | Vanesa |
Origin and meaning
Coined by Jonathan Swift in the 18th century as a pseudonym for a lady friend named Esther Vanhomrigh (or Van Homrigh), an Irish woman of Dutch descent, by taking the Dutch preposition van from her surname and adding -essa (perhaps influenced by the first syllable of Esther).
Where it is mostly given
- Great Britain
- Ireland
- United States
- Italy
- Malta
- Spain
- France
- Belgium
- Netherlands
- East Frisia
- Kosovo
- Slovenia
- Greece
Source: Wiktionnaire (CC BY-SA 4.0).