2006-11-15 11:26:44 · 3 answers · asked by aessa 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
It's of Greek origin and it means "butterfly"
http://babyparenting.about.com/cs/gettingready/a/vanessa.htm
2006-11-15 11:30:39 · answer #1 · answered by sploosh 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"vanesse" is the name of a butterfly. It's not a very pretty butterfly, actually, so I can't understand why someone has decided to turn it into a name!
Oh! Actually, I was looking for a picture to show you. It's not that ugly, after all! I guess the one I had seen was a bad picture. If you want to take a look at it:
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygonia_egea
"Vanessa" was invented by Jonathan Swift (English writer), in a poem.
Just found the poem Cadenus and Vanessa (quite long!):
http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/3377/
And where the name came from (that's way shorter to read: 3rd part):
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761575255/Swift_Jonathan.html
That's my name, actually!
2006-11-15 11:39:43 · answer #2 · answered by Offkey 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Apparently it's a genus of butterfly.
According to Wikipedia Jonathan Swift coined it as a woman's name:
"The name Vanessa was invented by Irish writer Jonathan Swift for Esther Vanhomrigh, whom Swift had met in 1708 and whom he tutored. The name was created by taking "Van" from Vanhomrigh's last name and adding "Esse", the pet form of Esther."
2006-11-15 11:43:06 · answer #3 · answered by sondonesia 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋