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Janessa

#1,741 in 2025Girls' name

Blend of Janice and Vanessa

Janessa has been given to 14,722 babies in the U.S. since 1954. In 2025 it ranked #1,741 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2009, with 556 recorded.

Babies named Janessa, 2025

1 in 28,300

Janessa over time, 1880–2025

Girls
020040060018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Janessa: meaning, origin, and history

Blend of Janice and Vanessa

coinages

What Janessa means

Janessa is a blend of Janice and Vanessa.

Origin, language, and formation

Janessa is used in English. Its origins include coinages.

Janessa is a modern formation.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Janice and Vanessa.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 14,722 girls were recorded with the name Janessa between 1954 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 556 in 2009; its best national rank was #524 in 2004.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #1,142 in 2020 to #1,741 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #716 in 2015 to #1,741 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Janessa?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 28,300
117 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 13,700
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#1,741
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
19,641 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Janessa sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 5002%

Put another way: gather 19,641 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Janessa. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Janessas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Janessa was born before 2004 — so the typical Janessa is around 21 today.

Median birth year
2004
About 21 years old
Biggest decade
2000s
32.0% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
61.8%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
14,722
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2000s — 32.0% of all recorded uses (4,712).

Is Janessa rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−170
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−599
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−1,025
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.29×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
21.0%
Peak was 2009 (556)
Years since peak
16
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Steady
8.9% average annual change
Best rank ever
#524
2004

Spellings of Janessa

Janessa is not the most common spelling — Vanessa is, with 71.8% against Janessa's 4.0%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Janessa is used

Across 2016–2025, Janessa was most concentrated in New Mexico — about 1 in 2,326 girls, against 1 in 7,345 across all states with data. It was least common in South Carolina (1 in 33,333).

343 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1New Mexico1 in 2,326
  2. 2California1 in 4,348
  3. 3Indiana1 in 4,545
  4. 4Pennsylvania1 in 4,545
  5. 5Arizona1 in 5,000
  6. 6Florida1 in 5,000
  7. 7Minnesota1 in 5,882
  8. 8Texas1 in 6,667

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Janessa around the world

Where Janessa ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2025
    #3,333
    in 2025
  • France
    2008–2012
    #7,002
    in 2012
  • Canada
    1991–2024
    #1,615
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1966–2012
    #871
    in 2012

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Janessa by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#1,741
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 599
Best rank ever
#524
2004
Peak year
2009
556 that year
First recorded
1954
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
14,722
Count in 2025
117

Names similar to Janessa

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

JanissaJaniyahJannieJanetteJanellJaniyaJanelleJanieceKarissaJanineJannaJanelJanaeLarissaMalissaJanellyJulissaJanethCarissaJaniahJanuaryJanellaAllyssaJanaya

Names with a curve like Janessa

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Janessa, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

CarleeKarleePerlaKeilaKinseyMicahKendalShylaJoslynAyanaIlianaKarlie

Sibling names for Janessa

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Janessa

Top names of 2009, Janessa's peak yearThe 2000s in fullOther names that peaked in 2004Girls' names starting with J