Meaning & Origin
Vanellope is a girl's baby name of cinematic origin, created for the 2012 Disney animated film Wreck-It Ralph, where Vanellope von Schweetz is the plucky, glitching racing character voiced by Sarah Silverman. The name is a playful variant of Penelope (from Greek, meaning 'weaver'), with the 'Van-' prefix added for playful distinctiveness.
As a film-introduced name, Vanellope carries all the spirit of its fictional bearer: spirited, unconventional, refusing to let anyone diminish her. Parents who name their daughter Vanellope are often expressing an explicit hope that she will share that same fearless, joyful, rule-breaking energy.