Vanessa vs Vann
American parents have registered 262,606 Vanessas since 1880, against 2,081 Vanns. Vanessa is still ahead, with 813 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Vanessa Vann
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Of the 116 years in which either name was published, Vanessa for 92 years and Vann for 24 years. The lead changed hands 15 times.
- 1917–1934 Vann ahead, apart from 2 short spells
- 1935–1940 Vanessa ahead
- 1943–1946 Vann ahead
- 1947–2025 Vanessa ahead
10 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Vanessa | Vann | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 262,606 | 2,081 |
| Most in one year | 7,605 | 58 |
| Babies in 2025 | 813 | 24 |
| Estimated living today | 251,000 | 1,600 |
| Median age today | 35 | 23 |
| Peak year | 1985 | 2009 |
| Best rank | 42nd girls | 2,252nd boys |
| Rank in 2025 | 377th | 4,249th |
| First recorded | 1900 | 1880 |
| Girls / boys | 261,622 / 984 | 24 / 2,057 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Which name is older
Half of the Vanessas alive today are over 35; half the Vanns are over 23. That is 12 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Vanessa California (2.4×), Arizona (2.2×), Nevada (2.1×)
- Vann North Carolina (21.0×), California (1.4×)
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Vanessa and Vann.