ninan.org

Jessica

Girls' name · Late 20th-century

Living in the US
~1,024,600 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#665 among girls
Births in 2025
424 1,054,307 since 1880
Typical age
38 years, median

Jessica popularity over time

Jessica rank by birth year, 1880–2025Jessica ranked #679 in 1880 and #665 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #1, in 1985.#1#10#100#1,000#665best #1 in 198518901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

The high point was 1987: 56,235 births recorded as Jessica. It is present from 1880, the first year of the record. Across the record, 41 years put Jessica in the top 100.

In 2025 it ranked #665 with 424 births. Compared with 2015, births are down 73%. It slipped 90 places against the previous year.

Babies named Jessica per yearPeaks at 56,235 births in 1987.56,235 in 1987018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Jessica?

About 1,024,600 people named Jessica are alive in the United States today. That is out of 1,054,307 recorded births since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Jessica?

Half of living Jessicas are older than 38, half younger. Most living bearers were born in the 1980s. By the site’s era rules that makes Jessica a late 20th-century name.

Your Jessica

Ages of living people named JessicaHalf of living Jessicas are older than 38 and half younger.median 38020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Jessica is most common

California uses the name 1.8× as often as the country as a whole. Oregon, Maryland and Washington follow.

Where Jessica is used more than average5 states use the name Jessica more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: 1.5× the national rateWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: 1.6× the national rateORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: 1.8× the national rateCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: 1.6× the national rateMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: 1.4× the national rateAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: not over-representedDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Jessica is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
California 1,607 1.8×
Oregon 112 1.6×
Maryland 176 1.6×
Washington 223 1.5×
Arizona 205 1.4×

Jessica in England and Wales

In England and Wales, Jessica ranked #139 in 2025 on 360 births. That is 69% lower than five years earlier.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Jessica comes from

First used by William Shakespeare in Merchant of Venice in the early 17th century, probably from Hebrew יִסְכָּה, a proper name meaning "he will see/behold/look for", the 3ms imperfect form of a verb ultimately, itself an alternative form of the root שׂ־כ־ה, both of which mean "to see, behold, look for". By folk etymology seen as an elaborate form of Jessie, from Jane.

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Jessica

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Jessica Alba American actress 1981 113
Jessica Lange American actress 1949 90
Jessica Biel American actress 1982 82
Jessica Simpson American singer and actress 1980 82
Jessica Chastain American actress and producer 1977 79
Jessica Tandy British actress 1909–1994 62
Jessica Ennis-Hill British heptathlete 1986 41
Jessica Szohr American actress and model 1985 39
Photo credits (7)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 240 in 1946 to 430 in 1947 — 1.8 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/jessica.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).