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Jessica

Gender
Girl
Say it
JES-i-ka
Origin
Hebrew
UK rank, 2025
#115 for girls
US rank, 2025
#665 for girls
Style
Classic

Jessica is a girls' name of Hebrew origin. In 2025 it ranked 115th for girls in the UK (462 babies) and 665th for girls in the US (424 babies).

What does Jessica mean?

Hebrew: first used by Shakespeare, probably from the biblical Iscah

Jessica, Shylock's daughter in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, is the earliest known bearer.

More on Wiktionary.

Is Jessica a girl's or a boy's name?

Jessica is a girls' name. In 2025, it was given to 462 girls in the UK and 424 girls in the US. Too few boys were given it to be listed.

How popular is Jessica in the UK?

Rank in 2025
115th among girls
Babies in 2025
462 about 1 in 600 girls
Five-year trend
Falling fast down 66% in five years
Same name in a class
2.3% chance among 15 girls

In 2025, 462 girls in the UK were named Jessica, making it the 115th most popular name for girls. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 35th. Its busiest year was 1996, with 6,884 girls.

It has been given to fewer girls each year for the last 13 years. 2025 had the fewest girls named Jessica since the records began in 1996.

Half of all the girls named Jessica in the UK since 1996 were born between 2000 and 2012. It was already well used in 1996, when the records begin, so earlier girls aren't counted.

Among girls in 2025, it was 139th in England and Wales, 49th in Scotland and 96th in Northern Ireland.

In the England and Wales top 100 for girls, which the ONS has published every ten years since 1904: 1984 (#40), 1994 (#3), 2004 (#3), 2014 (#8) and 2024 (#95).

1996Busiest: 6,884 in 19962025
Jessica in the UK, year by year
YearGirlsRank
2025462#115
2024579#90
2023731#71
2022861#62
20211,199#43
20201,374#35
20191,729#29
20182,169#18
20172,541#15
20163,132#6
20153,432#7
20143,537#7
20134,039#5
20124,740#3
20114,497#6
20104,604#5
20094,761#6
20085,222#6
20075,066#5
20065,363#3
20055,418#1
20045,214#4
20035,262#4
20025,438#3
20015,161#5
20005,043#6
19995,038#9
19986,012#5
19976,380#7
19966,884#4

How popular is Jessica in the US?

Rank in 2025
665th among girls
Babies in 2025
424 about 1 in 3,800 girls
Five-year trend
Falling down 47% in five years
Same name in a class
under 1% chance among 15 girls

In 2025, 424 girls in the US were named Jessica, making it the 665th most popular name for girls. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 399th. Its busiest year was 1987, with 55,992 girls.

It has been given to fewer girls each year for the last 38 years. 2025 had fewer girls named Jessica than any year since 1956.

Half of all the girls named Jessica in the US since 1880 were born between 1982 and 1993, the years shaded on the chart below.

1880Busiest: 55,992 in 19872025
Jessica in the US, year by year
YearGirlsRank
2025424#665
2024527#575
2023550#549
2022620#508
2021656#477
2020780#399
2019970#331
20181,065#313
20171,292#246
20161,392#231
20151,592#206
20141,804#179
20131,951#164
20122,335#137
20112,626#118
20103,200#92
20093,801#78
20084,739#59
20075,714#42
20066,815#32
20058,115#27
20049,470#21
200310,454#18
200211,921#16
200113,925#11
200015,711#8
199916,350#9
199818,239#8
199721,045#2
199624,201#2
199527,941#1
199432,122#1
199334,993#1
199238,361#2
199143,398#2
199046,486#1
198947,887#1
198851,556#1
198755,992#1
198652,682#1
198548,345#1
198445,857#2
198345,283#2
198245,453#2
198142,531#2
198033,924#3
197927,780#4
197826,102#3
197724,846#4
197618,368#8
197512,926#13
197410,656#17
19737,228#34
19726,206#46
19715,359#64
19704,021#98
19692,492#134
19681,841#177
19671,760#183
19661,667#195
19651,532#216
19641,171#262
19631,120#264
1962864#319
1961668#372
1960556#408
1959522#414
1958529#403
1957475#432
1956406#452
1955387#457
1954424#422
1953495#381
1952453#385
1951466#378
1950402#398
1949406#394
1948482#353
1947430#385
1946240#506
1945132#634
1944124#663
1943121#691
1942127#663
194181#802
194061#915
193977#775
193850#1,007
193771#815
193643#1,062
193547#1,004
193446#1,019
193343#1,062
193244#1,070
193140#1,127
193038#1,210
192942#1,137
192836#1,270
192739#1,261
192635#1,324
192534#1,376
192441#1,244
192352#1,054
192240#1,232
192148#1,092
192043#1,152
191940#1,177
191856#960
191755#933
191653#940
191555#885
191442#901
191325#1,091
191236#833
191121#958
191028#812
190918#961
190817#970
190717#923
190618#872
190517#900
190416#910
190316#862
19029#1,219
19018#1,227
190023#760
189914#878
189813#963
18979#1,094
18969#1,122
189519#725
189410#998
189315#767
189214#796
189114#727
189018#617
18899#902
188818#593
18878#860
188611#693
18856#921
188414#556
18836#817
18828#678
18817#679
18807#679

Nicknames for Jessica

Names like Jessica

Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.

Francesca, Jasmine, Molly, Abigail, Amber, Hannah, Holly, Emily, Leah, Erin, Alexandra, Chloe

Other spellings of Jessica

Jesica

Names related to Jessica

Jessika, Jesika, Jessyca, Jesseca, Jessyka

More Hebrew names

Noah, Isabella, Elijah, James, Jack, Mia, Ava, Jude, Ezra, Benjamin, Isaac, Jacob, Ethan, Daniel, Samuel, Elias

Every Hebrew name

Sources

Figures from Baby names in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics), Babies' first names (National Records of Scotland), Baby names (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) and Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.

To cite this page: Nameling, “Jessica: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/jessica, updated 20 October 2026.