Jessica: Baby Name Meaning, Origin, Popularity, More

Jessica

First Name
1.1m
in the U.S.
since 1880

Last Name
228
in the U.S.
in 2010

Girls

Boys

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Related Names
Pronunciation
Meanings and Origins
Notable Persons Named Jessica
Notable Persons With the Last Name Jessica
Popularity by Year and Gender
Regional Popularity
Ethnicity Distribution
Fun Facts
What Jessicas Have Visited This Page?
Name Poster

25k Jess (Nickname)
279k Jessie (Nickname)
1.5m Jennifer
5.2m John
1.1m Sarah
4.4m Michael
874k Emily
5.2m James
1.7m Elizabeth
723k Emma
4.1m Mary
867k Ashley

How to Pronounce Jessica

Jessica Pronunciations

Play	Accuracy	Source
	94%	User from Canada
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	90%	Automated Female (English)
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	89%	Automated Male (English)
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	88%	User from Australia
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	88%	User from California, U.S.
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	87%	User from Australia
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	83%	User from Indiana, U.S.
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How difficult is it to pronounce Jessica?

Meaning and Origin

What does the name Jessica mean? Keep reading to find the user submitted meanings, dictionary definitions, and more.

Origin and Meaning of Jessica

User Submitted Origins

English

52%

Hebrew

35%

American

Indian (Sanskrit)

Spanish

French

User Submitted Meanings

A user from Canada says the name Jessica is of Hebrew origin and means "God beholds. Gifts from God".
A user from the United Kingdom says the name Jessica is of English origin and means "A queen with the gift of god".
5 submissions from all over the world agree the name Jessica means "Gift of god" and is of English origin.
A submission from Virginia, U.S. says the name Jessica means "God's gift" and is of Canadian origin.
According to a user from Nigeria, the name Jessica means "God is looking. Gracious gift from God".
A user from Georgia, U.S. says the name Jessica is of English origin and means "Gift of God, Gods Gift".
A user from Ireland says the name Jessica is of English origin and means "Gift from god".
According to a user from Virginia, U.S., the name Jessica is of Hebrew origin and means "Rich or God beholds".
A user from Georgia, U.S. says the name Jessica is of English origin and means "In Hebrew the meaning of the name Jessica is: Rich. God beholds. The daughter of Shylock in Shakespeare's play 'The Merchant of Venice'".
A submission from Australia says the name Jessica means "Queen of Riches and of God".
2 submissions from the United Kingdom and the United States agree the name Jessica means "Rich" and is of English / French origin.
3 submissions from Texas, U.S. agree the name Jessica means "Wealthy" and is of Hebrew origin.
2 people from the United Kingdom and the United States agree the name Jessica is of English origin and means "Queen".
2 submissions from the United States and Canada agree the name Jessica means "princess" and is of English origin.

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International Interest

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Wiktionary

First used by William Shakespeare in Merchant of Venice in the early 17th century, probably from Hebrew יִסְכָּה‎ (yiskah, “Iscah in Genesis 11:29, Jescha in the Wycliffe version”), a proper name meaning "one who looks forth" (but apparently not used as an ordinary word with that meaning).

By folk etymology seen as an elaborate form of Jessie, from Jane.

A female given name from Hebrew; formerly rare, but since the 1970s popular in all English-speaking countries.

Jessica was also found in the following language(s): Cebuano, Danish, French, German, and Swedish

Notable Persons Named Jessica

Jessica Campbell Jones Cage

Jessica Campbell Jones Cage is a comics character.

Popularity:

Jessica Alba

Jessica Alba is an actor, model (people), businessperson, actress, model, and businesswoman. She was most active from 1994 to present. Jessica was given the name Jessica Marie Alba on April 28th, 1981 in , U.S.

Popularity:

Jessica Chastain

Jessica Chastain is an actress. Her ongoing career started in 2004. Jessica was given the name Jessica Michelle Chastain on March 24th, 1977 in Sacramento, California, U.S.

Popularity:

Jessica Biel

Jessica Biel is an actress. Her ongoing career started in 1994. Jessica was given the name Jessica Claire Biel on March 3rd, 1982 in Ely, Minnesota, U.S.

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Jessica Lange

She has had major accomplishments since 1976. Jessica was given the name Jessica Phyllis Lange on April 20th, 1949 in Cloquet, Minnesota, U.S.

Popularity:

Jessica Henwick

Jessica Henwick is an actress. Her ongoing career started in 2010. Jessica was born on August 30th, 1992.

Popularity:

Notable Persons With the Last Name Jessica

Jessica

Jessica is a singing, actor, businessperson, singer, actress, and businesswoman. Jessica was given the name Jessica Sooyoun Jung on April 18th, 1989 in San Francisco.

Popularity:

Stoya

Stoya was given the name Jessica on June 15th, 1986 in Wilmington, North Carolina, U.S.

Popularity:

Lady Jessica

Lady Jessica is a bene gesserit.

Popularity:

Sisca Jessica

Sisca Jessica is an actress. Her ongoing career started in 2007. Sisca was born on April 25th, 1988 in Bandung.

Popularity:

Nash and Jessica

Popularity:

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How popular is the baby name Jessica in the U.S.?

Click Here to Show Chart Data

Year	Total Babies Born	Girls Born	Boys Born	Ranking
1880	7	7	0
1881	7	7	0
1882	8	8	0
1883	6	6	0
1884	14	14	0
1885	6	6	0
1886	11	11	0
1887	8	8	0
1888	18	18	0
1889	9	9	0
1890	18	18	0
1891	14	14	0
1892	14	14	0
1893	15	15	0
1894	10	10	0
1895	19	19	0
1896	9	9	0
1897	9	9	0
1898	13	13	0
1899	14	14	0
1900	23	23	0
1901	8	8	0
1902	9	9	0
1903	16	16	0
1904	16	16	0
1905	17	17	0
1906	18	18	0
1907	17	17	0
1908	17	17	0
1909	18	18	0
1910	28	28	0
1911	21	21	0
1912	36	36	0
1913	25	25	0
1914	42	42	0
1915	55	55	0
1916	53	53	0
1917	55	55	0
1918	56	56	0
1919	40	40	0
1920	43	43	0
1921	48	48	0
1922	40	40	0
1923	52	52	0
1924	41	41	0
1925	34	34	0
1926	35	35	0
1927	39	39	0
1928	36	36	0
1929	42	42	0
1930	38	38	0
1931	39	39	0
1932	44	44	0
1933	43	43	0
1934	46	46	0
1935	47	47	0
1936	43	43	0
1937	72	72	0
1938	50	50	0
1939	77	77	0
1940	61	61	0
1941	81	81	0
1942	127	127	0
1943	121	121	0
1944	124	124	0
1945	132	132	0
1946	240	240	0
1947	430	430	0
1948	482	482	0
1949	406	406	0
1950	402	402	0
1951	466	466	0
1952	453	453	0
1953	495	495	0
1954	424	424	0
1955	387	387	0
1956	406	406	0
1957	476	476	0
1958	529	529	0
1959	522	522	0
1960	557	557	0
1961	667	667	0
1962	864	864	0
1963	1,125	1,120	5
1964	1,178	1,171	7
1965	1,539	1,531	8
1966	1,679	1,669	10
1967	1,774	1,762	12
1968	1,841	1,841	0
1969	2,505	2,492	13
1970	4,038	4,023	15	#98 girl name
1971	5,379	5,360	19	#64 girl name
1972	6,233	6,209	24	#46 girl name
1973	7,245	7,225	20	#34 girl name
1974	10,697	10,655	42	#17 girl name
1975	12,981	12,930	51	#13 girl name
1976	18,426	18,370	56	#8 girl name
1977	24,938	24,846	92	#4 girl name
1978	26,198	26,103	95	#3 girl name
1979	27,896	27,782	114	#4 girl name
1980	34,050	33,924	126	#3 girl name
1981	42,704	42,537	167	#2 girl name
1982	45,644	45,456	188	#2 girl name
1983	45,474	45,280	194	#2 girl name
1984	46,038	45,858	180	#2 girl name
1985	48,576	48,347	229	#1 girl name
1986	52,899	52,682	217	#1 girl name
1987	56,240	55,997	243	#1 girl name
1988	51,774	51,549	225	#1 girl name
1989	48,142	47,890	252	#1 girl name
1990	46,621	46,481	140	#1 girl name
1991	43,519	43,398	121	#2 girl name
1992	38,460	38,358	102	#2 girl name
1993	35,090	34,990	100	#1 girl name
1994	32,225	32,120	105	#1 girl name
1995	27,989	27,938	51	#1 girl name
1996	24,248	24,201	47	#2 girl name
1997	21,089	21,044	45	#2 girl name
1998	18,266	18,236	30	#8 girl name
1999	16,377	16,349	28	#9 girl name
2000	15,737	15,710	27	#8 girl name
2001	13,950	13,923	27	#11 girl name
2002	11,943	11,921	22	#16 girl name
2003	10,468	10,451	17	#18 girl name
2004	9,505	9,470	35	#21 girl name
2005	8,134	8,115	19	#27 girl name
2006	6,824	6,814	10	#32 girl name
2007	5,725	5,712	13	#42 girl name
2008	4,742	4,736	6	#59 girl name
2009	3,809	3,799	10	#78 girl name
2010	3,205	3,199	6	#92 girl name
2011	2,632	2,623	9
2012	2,333	2,333	0
2013	1,949	1,949	0
2014	1,800	1,800	0
2015	1,589	1,589	0
2016	1,394	1,389	5
2017	1,286	1,286	0
2018	1,066	1,066	0
2019	966	966	0
2020	777	777	0
2021	647	647	0

* Years where the name was given to 5 or fewer babies will show zero to respect privacy.

Where is the name Jessica popular?

International Interest for Jessica

Interest is based how many people viewed this name from each country and is scaled based on the total views by each country so that large countries do not always show the most interest. Darker blue on the map indicates that people in the country are more likely to search for this name.

Longer bars in the bar graph indicate that people in the country are more interested in the name. Not all countries that have shown an interest in the name are listed in the bar graph.

United States

United Kingdom

Canada

Australia

South Africa

Indonesia

New Zealand

Jamaica

Rwanda

Namibia

Popularity in the US

View popular names by state or region.

Popularity of Jessica as a first name

The map shows the relative popularity of the name Jessica as a first name in each of the states. See other popular names in Vermont, New Hampshire, or Alaska.

Common last names for Jessica

Smith
Johnson
Williams
Davis
Taylor
Wilson
Brown
Moore
Martin
Thomas
Harris
King
Anderson
Hill

Also see the most common last names in the U.S.

Ethnicity Distribution

	Jessica	U.S.
White	64.47%	64.26%
African American	8.33%	11.96%
Asian, Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander	6.58%	4.85%
American Indian and Alaska Native	0.00%	0.69%
Two or More Ethnicities	0.00%	1.76%
Hispanic or Latino	16.67%	16.26%

Of Last Name Jessica

People with the last name Jessica are most frequently White or Hispanic or Latino

Entire United States

Learn more about the most popular surnames and their ethnicities and origins.

Fun Facts about the name Jessica

What name lists does Jessica rank for?

#11 Most Popular Girl Names
How Popular is the name Jessica? Jessica is the 38^th most popular name of all time. As a last name Jessica was the 82,613^th most popular name in 2010.
How many people with the first name Jessica have been born in the United States? From 1880 to 2021, the Social Security Administration has recorded 1,052,138 babies born with the first name Jessica in the United States. That's more than enough people named Jessica to occupy the country of Djibouti with an estimated population of 923,000 (as of July 1, 2012).
What year were 5 or more babies first named Jessica? The name was first given to 5 or more babies in the year 1880 when it was given as a first name to 7 new born babies.
When was Jessica first recorded in the United States? The oldest recorded birth by the Social Security Administration for the first name Jessica is Friday, February 9th, 1872.
What year had the most people named Jessica born? The highest recorded use of the first name Jessica was in 1987 with a total of 55,997 babies. That's a lot of babies named Jessica!
Random Jessica Factoid: According to the 2006 U.S. Social Security Administration data, the first name Jessica ranks 38^th in popularity as a baby girl's name in South Carolina. Imagine that, 93 babies in South Carolina have the same name in 2006.
Weird things about the name Jessica: The name spelled backwards is Acissej. A random rearrangement of the letters in the name (anagram) will give Esjsaic. How do you pronounce that?
How many people have the last name Jessica? In 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau surveyed 228 people with the last name Jessica.
How likely are you to meet someone with the last name of Jessica? Chances are, most people haven't met someone with Jessica as their last name since less than 1 person in 1.3m people have that last name. If you know one, consider yourself lucky!