Nessa
A feminine name of Irish origin meaning "daughter of grace".
Name Census estimates that about 1,266 living Americans carry the first name Nessa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nessa today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nessa births was 2016 (83 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nessa. 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 Nessa with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 270,738 Americans
Peak year
2016
83 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,867
Tracked since 1935
Census
Nessa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,273 people with the first name Nessa, which placed it at #10,463 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
#10,463
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,273 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
60.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nessa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nessa is White at 60.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.6%) and Black (10.2%). 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 Nessa 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 Nessa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White60.1% · 765
- Hispanic or Latino14.6% · 186
- Black or African American10.2% · 130
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.5% · 96
- Two or more races5.8% · 74
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 22
Popularity
Nessa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nessa from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 457 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Nessa remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nessa 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 Nessa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nessas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Nessa, while Ohio, Georgia, Wisconsin recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 22 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nessa
The name Nessa is believed to have its origins in the Irish language. It is derived from the Gaelic word "neas," which means "noble" or "dignified." The name gained popularity in Ireland during the Middle Ages, particularly among the Irish nobility and ruling classes.
Nessa is also associated with the legendary figure Nessa, who was a powerful queen and warrior in ancient Irish mythology. According to the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, Nessa was the wife of the high king Conor mac Nessa and the mother of the legendary hero Cúchulainn. Her name is mentioned in several ancient Irish texts, including the Táin Bó Cúailnge (The Cattle Raid of Cooley), which dates back to the 8th or 9th century.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Nessa can be found in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. The Annals mention a woman named Nessa ingen Mhuireadhaigh, who died in 1082 CE. Another notable figure named Nessa was Nessa Ní Shéaghain, a 16th-century Irish noblewoman and patron of the arts.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Nessa. One of the most famous was Nessa Robins (1888-1981), a British novelist and playwright known for her works exploring the lives of women in the early 20th century. Another notable Nessa was Nessa Cohen (1936-2020), an Israeli writer and translator who was awarded the prestigious Israel Prize for Hebrew Literature in 2012.
Other notable individuals named Nessa include Nessa Cahill (born 1978), an Irish singer-songwriter and member of the band Wyvern Lingo; Nessa Childers (born 1956), an Irish politician and former Member of the European Parliament; and Nessa Ní Chuanaigh (born 1969), an Irish actress and director known for her work in both Irish and English language productions.
While the name Nessa has its roots in ancient Irish culture, it has since gained popularity in other parts of the world, particularly among those of Irish descent or those drawn to its unique and meaningful origins.
People
Nessa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nessa as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with N
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Nessa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nessa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,266 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nessa 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 270,738 US residents.
Is Nessa a common name?
We classify Nessa as "Rare". It ranks above 91.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,304 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nessa most popular?
The single biggest year for Nessa was 2016, when 83 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nessa is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nessa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,273 people with the name Nessa, or 0.42 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,463 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 Nessa 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 Nessa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nessa appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,272 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Nessa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nessa is White at 60.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.6%) and Black (10.2%). 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 Nessa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Nessa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.1% (765 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 Nessa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nessa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nessa 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 Nessa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nessa 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 Nessa 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 are called Nessa?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.