Butterfly
A rare variant of Vanessa, a name invented by author Jonathan Swift for his friend Esther Vanhomrigh. It was later adopted as the name for a genus of butterflies. While the full form Vanessa is common, Vaness is a shorter, modern truncation.
Less common today
Vaness isn't in the latest US Top 1000. It last peaked at #4,590 in 1990.
US births per 5-year period, 1990–present (SSA data).
