I have been on vacation for a while and so just saw this.
Sorry to confuse you by using the phrase "legendary character". The original
Vanessa is a character in the poem by the Irish author
Jonathan Swift titled
Cadenus and Vanessa. He created the name to honor his friend
Esther VanHomrigh by blending the
Van from her surname with "-essa", short for
Esther. So in
Vanessa's case the "legend" is the one written by Swift.