Message: "Vanessa doesn't mean "butterfly" (m)"

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Vanessa doesn't mean "butterfly" (m)

by Miranda (Randee15)

5/5/2004, 7:45 PM

in reply to a message by Jessica Randall

VANESSA f
Usage: English
Pronounced: va-NES-a
Invented by author Jonathan Swift. He arrived at it by rearranging the initial syllables of the first name and surname of Esther Vanhomrigh, his close friend. Vanessa was later used as the name of a genus of butterfly.

Emphasis mine.

Miranda

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- Jessica Randall (guest) +1

5/5/2004, 9:00 PM

Oh! Thankyou! I didn't even think of looking it up. My father was the one who told me it meant butterfly.

- Miranda (Randee15)

5/5/2004, 9:12 PM

Not a problem, many people erroneously think Vanessa means "butterfly". Bad baby name books and sites contribute to the problem.

The fact that a genus of butterfly was named Vanessa is a nice bonus of the name, though, even if the name doesn't actually mean "butterfly".

Miranda

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