Given name & surname
Jessica
“The Lord sees all”
Jessica has a Shakespearean story and a possible, rather than certain, biblical connection.
Original Hebrewיִסְכָּה
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Hebrew interpretation is “The Lord sees all.” Its derivation is not certain.
Where it comes from
A possible origin is Hebrew, although the derivation remains uncertain.
How it developed
Probably from Hebrew יִסְכָּה (yiská, “Iscah in Genesis 11:29, Jescha in the Wycliffe version”).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Jessica is Shylock’s daughter in The Merchant of Venice. Shakespeare’s immediate inspiration is unknown, but the biblical spelling Jesca—corresponding to Iscah in Genesis 11:29—has been proposed as a starting point.
Jessica through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 1,054,307
- 3,578 boys · 1,050,729 girls
- Most popular year
- 1987
- 56,235 babies
- 2025
- 424
- #665 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −50%
- Cooling
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 424 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 665 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 49.5% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for girls was 55,992 in 1987. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for girls with this name (70). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 957,447 as a first name in 2020; 291 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Jessica’s family of names
In English usage, Jessica has a diminutive in Jesse. In English usage, Jessica has a later derivative in Jessika. Jessica has a related form in Jessie.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Jessica has relatives in 30 languages. Lines run from its Hebrew roots to each of them.
Hebrewwhere Jessica comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 58
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Jessevariant · English
- Jessiediminutive · French, English
- Jessavariant · English
- Jessivariant · English
- Jessydiminutive · French, English
- Jesslynvariant
- Jessdiminutive · English
- Jessalynvariant
Show 50 moreShow fewer
- Jeslynvariant · English
- Jesslynnvariant
- Yessicavariant · English, Spanish
- Jessalynnvariant
- Jennicadiminutive · English
- Jesselynvariant
- Jessikavariant · English, Swedish
- Jesseyvariant · English
- Jesicavariant · English, Spanish
- Jesssicalikely variant
- Jezikavariant · English
- Jesykavariant · English
- Jesycavariant · English
- Jessykavariant · English
- Jessikahvariant · English
- Jessicahvariant · English
- Jesikavariant · English, Czech
- Jessycavariant · English
- Jessickavariant · English
- Jessyevariant
- Jessinavariant
- Jessamaevariant
- Jessecavariant · English
- Jessalinvariant
- Jessacavariant · English
- Tessicadiminutive · English
- Jesdiminutive · English
- Jessiciavariant · English
- Jessiquavariant · English
- Jessiccavariant · English
- Jesiccavariant · English
- Jassicavariant · English
- Jezykavariant · English
- Jezycavariant · English
- Jezicavariant · English
- Jessickahvariant · English
- Jessiqavariant · English
- Dżesikavariant · Polish
- Ikangdiminutive · ceb
- Jesimaevariant
- Jessilymvariant
- Jezereevariant
- Jessandravariant
- Jessanavariant
- Jezireevariant
- Jesiynvariant
- Jesiraevariant
- Jessakavariant · English
- ש־כ־הvariant · English
- Jesacavariant · English
Across languages 32
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- יִסְכָּהHebrew
- Gessicarelated form · Italian
- Jasikaequivalent
- Iscahequivalent
- יסכהequivalent
- 傑茜卡borrowing · Chinese
- ジェシカborrowing · Japanese
- Dzsesszikaborrowing · Hungarian
Show 24 moreShow fewer
- 傑西卡borrowing · Chinese
- Jessikkaequivalent
- ДжессікаUkrainian
- เจสสิก้าThai
- ДжессикаRussian
- JéssicaPortuguese, Spanish
- ᔨᔅᓯᑲInuktitut
- जेसिकाHindi, Marathi
- ΙεσικήGreek
- 제시카Korean
- 杰西卡Chinese
- جيسيكاArabic
- JessikâTurkish
- เจสสิกาThai
- YéssicaSpanish
- YésicaSpanish
- JésicaSpanish
- Дже́ссикаRussian
- DžesikaLatvian
- ἸεσχάAncient Greek
- JiskaEsperanto
- جِيسِيكَاArabic
- ДжэсікаBelarusian
- JèssicaCatalan
People named Jessica
- Jessica AlbaAmerican actress and businesswoman (born 1981)
- Jessica LangeAmerican actressborn 1949
- Jessica SimpsonAmerican singer and actressborn 1980
- Jessica BielAmerican actress (born 1982)
- Jessica ChastainAmerican actress and producer (born 1977)
- Jessie JEnglish singer (born 1988)
- Jessica TandyBritish actress (1909–1994)
- Jessica Ennis-HillBritish heptathleteborn 1986
- Jessica SzohrAmerican actress and modelborn 1985
Characters named Jessica: Spider-Woman (Marvel Comics), Lady Jessica (Dune), Jessica Cruz (DC Comics character), Jessica Fletcher (the American television series Murder, She Wrote).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
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- Swimmers
- Superheroes
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- Popular Names in British Columbia
- Most Popular Names of the 1990s
- Most Popular Names of the 1980s
- Popular Names in New Zealand
- Popular Names in England and Wales
- Popular Names in Australia
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If you love Jessica, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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