Nessa

Attested in 1 language in the etymology graph.

Names that people choosing a name often weigh against Nessa, most often first. They share a style rather than an origin.

• Sorcha
• Orla
• Moira
• Ciara
• Enya
• Clodagh
• Alannah
• Caoimhe
• Aoife
• Keeva
• Loch
• Aisling

From the names suggested together in public name-advice forums, in English. A list of what people consider, not a measure of how common any name is.

Nessa is also recorded as 3 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Portuguese surname23 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, France, Brazil, United States

  Languages: Portuguese, French, Spanish

  Also written Nêssa, Néssa, Nèssa, Nessá, Nęssā

• Norwegian surname6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Norway, United States, India, Sweden

  Languages: Norwegian, Danish, Swedish

  Also written Ñešså

• Serbian given name23 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Serbia, Bulgaria, India, Kyrgyzstan

  Languages: Serbian, Bulgarian, Croatian

  Also written Neša, Неша, Nesa, Неса, Neşa

54 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Nessa is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• Traditional Irish Gaelic name, also found in the form Ness, of unknown origin. It is borne by a character in Tdin Bo Cuailgne (the Cattle Raid of Cooley), the mother of Conchobhar. This name is also found as a short form of Agnessa, a Latinate form of Agnes, and in modern use as a short form of 6 Vanessa. Pet form: Nessie.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In English, A female given name, nickname of Vanessa.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• 1 English: originally a short form of Agnessa , a Latinate form of AGNES . In modern use in the English-speaking world it is more often a short form of VANESSA , and is also used as an independent given name. 2 Irish Gaelic: older form of NEASSA . Top

  as a word

• In Portuguese, contraction of em essa (“in that (near you, feminine)”): feminine singular of nesse

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Maltese, to make (someone) forget (something)

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

• Nic Nessab. 1902NONorwegian painter (1902-1962)
• Ludvig Nessab. 1949NONorwegian minister
• Pasquale Nessab. 1960ITItalian politician and entrepreneur
• Oddi Nessab. 1973NONorwegian musician and guitarist

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.

What does the name Nessa mean, and where does it come from?

Originally a pet form of Agnes; now used independently in Ireland. Recorded by Irish first names.

What are other forms of the name Nessa?

In the etymology graph, Ness and Neas are forms of the same name in other languages.

How do you pronounce Nessa?

A machine transcription gives /ˈnɛsə/ (IPA) for Hindi.

How common is the name Nessa?

In the United States, the national register counted 683 people named Nessa in 2010, about 1 in 487 thousand residents.

How common is Nessa compared with other names?

In Bangladesh, Nessa is the 226th most common surname of 12,312 surnames recorded there.

In which country does Nessa have the most bearers?

Mondonomo estimates about 107 thousand people named Nessa in India, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled nessa.

Where is Nessa most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Nessa is densest in Norway — about 1 in 9.6 thousand people — even though India holds more of our records for it.