Jessica

What Jessica means

Possibly “Iscah in Genesis 11:29, Jescha in the Wycliffe…

First used by William Shakespeare in Merchant of Venice in the early 17th century, probably from Hebrew יִסְכָּה (yiská, “Iscah in Genesis 11:29, Jescha in the Wycliffe version”), a proper name meaning "he will see/behold/look for", the 3ms

Source: Wiktionary, “Jessica” (revision 93871057), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Jessica?

US: Falling: down from #206 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #7 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1987, when 55,992 girls got the name (#1 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 3,791 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 704 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 221 baby girls 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 UT (0.59 per 1,000 girls), AZ (0.57 per 1,000 girls), SC (0.55 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Jessica is #665 in the US and #139 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Jessica were girls.

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

• Jessika7 US · 3 E&W
• Jesica5 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.

Spelling variants on Wiktionary

• Jessicah
• Jessika
• Jessikah
• Jessicka
• Jessickah
• Jessiqa
• Jessyca
• Jessyka

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

Nicknames

• Jennica
• Jes
• Jess
• Jessa
• Jesse
• Jessey
• Jessi
• Jessie
• Jessy
• Tessica

Listed on Wiktionary under “diminutives”.

If you like Jessica

Girls

• Sarah#90“masters, princes”^*
• Elizabeth#17“my God is an oath”^*
• Michelle#465Feminine form of Michel, meaning “who is like God?”^*
• Rebecca#349“enchantingly beautiful, captivating, snare”^*
• Jamie#857Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1977, with 12,895 babies; 316 in 2025
• Rachel#250“ewe”^*

For a brother

• Joseph#29“(God) shall add”^*
• Matthew#32“gift of the Lord”^*
• Joe#991Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1936, with 8,023 babies; 230 in 2025
• Daniel#22“God is my judge”^*
• David#35“beloved”^*
• Michael#21“who is like God?”^*

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