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ArchivesDoes Vanessa have an "exact" meaning?
Greetings.
I'd like to know if the name Vanessa has a clear meaning or it doesn't since it's invented.
One theory claims that it means "from the stars", considering that Esther means "star" and the Van in Vanhomrigh means "from" in Dutch; however, this seems like a stretch.
Thanks in advance.
“Dear optimist, pessimist, and realist – while you guys were busy arguing about the glass of wine, I drank it! Sincerely, the opportunist!”
-Lori Greiner
I'd like to know if the name Vanessa has a clear meaning or it doesn't since it's invented.
One theory claims that it means "from the stars", considering that Esther means "star" and the Van in Vanhomrigh means "from" in Dutch; however, this seems like a stretch.
Thanks in advance.
“Dear optimist, pessimist, and realist – while you guys were busy arguing about the glass of wine, I drank it! Sincerely, the opportunist!”
-Lori Greiner
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Replies
If by "meaning" you are asking what the person who originally created Vanessa intended, I think Jonathan Swift simply intended it to honor his friend Esther Vanhomrigh, and so if it had a "meaning" it was just "beautiful nymph-like character in my poem honoring my friend Esther."
Interpreting it as "from the stars" is to go beyond what Swift himself probably intended by joining together the original ancient derivations of Esther and the Dutch preposition "Van". If one wants to do this it's fine, as long as one realizes you're putting an interpretation on the name that there's no evidence the original creator of the name intended it to have.
Interpreting it as "from the stars" is to go beyond what Swift himself probably intended by joining together the original ancient derivations of Esther and the Dutch preposition "Van". If one wants to do this it's fine, as long as one realizes you're putting an interpretation on the name that there's no evidence the original creator of the name intended it to have.
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Okay, thanks! :)
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