Anessa
A feminine name derived from the Greek word "grace" or "favor".
Name Census estimates that about 2,750 living Americans carry the first name Anessa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Anessa today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Anessa births was 2007 (126 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Anessa. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Anessa with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.8K
~ 1 in 124,638 Americans
Peak year
2007
126 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,955
Tracked since 1967
Census
Anessa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,183 people with the first name Anessa, which placed it at #7,092 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#7,092
National first-name rank
People counted
2.2K
2,183 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
41.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Anessa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Anessa is White at 41.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (29.9%) and Black (16.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Anessa described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Anessa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White41.0% · 894
- Hispanic or Latino29.9% · 653
- Black or African American16.4% · 357
- Two or more races7.1% · 156
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.4% · 74
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.2% · 49
Popularity
Anessa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Anessa from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 997 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Anessa by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Anessa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Anessas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 15 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Anessa, while Wisconsin, Washington, Oklahoma recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 57 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Anessa
The name Anessa originates from the Greek language and can be traced back to ancient times. It is believed to have derived from the Greek word "anesos," which means "unfading" or "everlasting." This connection suggests that the name might have been associated with qualities such as endurance, resilience, and permanence.
In ancient Greece, the name Anessa was relatively uncommon, but it did appear in some historical records and literary works. One of the earliest documented references to the name can be found in the writings of the Greek philosopher Plato, who lived in the 5th century BCE. He mentioned a woman named Anessa in his dialogues, though little is known about her beyond her name.
During the Byzantine Empire, which spanned from the 4th to the 15th century CE, the name Anessa gained some popularity among the Greek-speaking population. Several notable figures from this period bore the name, including Anessa of Constantinople, a noblewoman and philanthropist who lived in the 11th century.
In the Middle Ages, the name Anessa spread to other parts of Europe, particularly in areas with strong Greek cultural influences. One example is Anessa of Crete, a renowned poet and scholar who lived in the 14th century. Her works, written in both Greek and Latin, were widely read and appreciated during her lifetime.
As the Renaissance dawned, the name Anessa continued to be used, though it remained relatively rare. One notable figure from this period was Anessa Tornielli, an Italian painter who lived in the 16th century. Her artwork, which depicted religious scenes and portraits, can still be found in various churches and museums across Italy.
In more recent history, the name Anessa has been borne by several influential individuals. Anessa Keyes, an American civil rights activist and educator, played a significant role in desegregating schools in the southern United States during the mid-20th century. Another notable figure was Anessa Hartog, a Dutch author and journalist who wrote extensively on social and political issues in the late 20th century.
While the name Anessa has never been among the most popular, it has maintained a consistent presence throughout history, carrying with it a sense of timelessness and endurance. Its Greek origins and the meaning associated with it have endured across centuries, making it a name with a rich cultural heritage.
People
Anessa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Anessa as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Anessa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Anessa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,750 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Anessa going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 124,638 US residents.
Is Anessa a common name?
We classify Anessa as "Rare". It ranks above 94.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,842 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Anessa most popular?
The single biggest year for Anessa was 2007, when 126 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Anessa is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Anessa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,183 people with the name Anessa, or 0.72 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,092 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Anessa in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Anessa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Anessa appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,184 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Anessa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Anessa is White at 41.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (29.9%) and Black (16.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Anessa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Anessa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 41.0% (894 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Anessa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Anessa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Anessa in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Anessa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Anessa in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Anessa can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Anessa?
Find out how many people have the name Anessa on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.