Jesse

What Jesse means

Meaning not yet sourced. Wiktionary has no word-by-word meaning for Jesse yet, and we don’t write our own.

Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1981, with 10,443 babies; 2,002 in 2025 Worked out from the official US and England & Wales counts, not a meaning.

How popular is Jesse?

US: Steady: #178 in 2015, #184 now. England & Wales: Rising: up from #110 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1887, when 601 boys got the name (#26 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 853 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 277 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 1,091 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in WY (4.59 per 1,000 boys), MT (4.52 per 1,000 boys), RI (2.88 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Jesse is #184 in the US and #51 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 96.5% of US babies named Jesse were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Jose3,678 US · 21 E&W
• Jase375 US · 11 E&W
• Jayse29 US
• Joss8 US · 16 E&W
• Jess18 US · 3 E&W
• Jese10 US
• Jaise6 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Jesse

Boys

• Paul#262“small”^*
• Timothy#203“to honour + god”^*
• Jon#951Variant of John, possibly meaning “God is gracious”^*
• Stephen#383“crown, wreath”^*
• John#23possibly “God is gracious”^*
• Mark#244Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1960, with 58,727 babies; 1,416 in 2025

For a sister

• Jamie#857Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1977, with 12,895 babies; 316 in 2025
• Sara#198Variant of Sarah, meaning “masters, princes”^*
• Rebecca#349“enchantingly beautiful, captivating, snare”^*
• Jessica#665possibly “Iscah in Genesis 11:29, Jescha in the Wycliffe…^*
• Rachel#250“ewe”^*
• Michelle#465Feminine form of Michel, meaning “who is like God?”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Bible, Hebrew, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Jesse’s. Rank is US 2025.