Jessica

Hebrew
"behold or wealthy"

Jessica Origin and Meaning

The name Jessica is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "behold or wealthy".

When Jennifer finally gave up her Number 1 place on the girls' popularity list, her crown was passed to Jessica, who reigned for not one but two decades. Jessica was the Number 1 name in both the mid-1980s and 1990s, never sounding quite as trendy as its predecessor, maybe because of its classic Shakespearean pedigree.

Jessica fell out of the Top 10 in 2001 and has been heading straight downhill ever since, though she still ranks in the middle of the Top 1000. Our guess is that a lot of new moms who loved the name Jessica growing up are now giving it to their daughters, though it's far from a fashionable choice.

Jessica seems to have been coined in this form by Shakespeare for the character of Shylock's daughter in The Merchant of Venice, possibly as an Anglicization of the biblical name Iscah. There are several attractive Jessicas on the scene today, including Jessica Lange, Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Jessica Simpson, and Jessica Chastain.

Many Jessicas, grownup as well as newborn, are called Jessie or Jess, which freshens up the name as one of the stylish boyish nicknames for girls. Other variations in use include Jessi, Jessy, Jesse, Jessa, and Jesslyn.

# 553 in the US

Jessica Rank in US Top 1000

# 496 on Nameberry

Jessica Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Jessica Popularity

Famous People Named Jessica

  • Jessica Marie Alba
    American actress
  • Jessica Claire Biel
    American actress
  • Jessica Michelle Chastain
    American actress
  • Jessica Danielle Andrews
    American singer/songwriter
  • Jessica Karen Szohr
    American actress
  • Jessica Louise Origliasso
    American singer
  • Jessica Ann Simpson
    American singer
  • Jessica Alice Tandy
    English,American actress
  • Jessica Phyllis Lange
    American actress
  • Jessica Brooke Capshaw
    American actress
  • Jessica Hilda Mauboy
    Australian pop singer
  • Jessica Elizabeth Sanchez
    American pop singer
  • Jessica Leigh Stroup
    American actress
  • Jessica Louise "Jesy" Nelson
    singer of British girl group Little Mix
  • Jessica Ennis
    Hill, English Olympic heptathlete
  • Jessica Olie
    CEO of This is Olie
  • Sarah Jessica Parker
    American actress
  • Jessica Pimentel
    American actress
  • Jessica Grace Hanson
    sister of the Hanson brothers
  • Jessica Leccia
    American actress
  • Jessica Rose Brown
    Findlay, English actress
  • Jessica Sue Davis
    American actress; twin brother Jesse Davis
  • Jessica Lily "Jessie" Bridges
    daughter of actor Jeff Bridges
  • Jessica Isabel Rowling Arantes
    daughter of novelist J.K. Rowling
  • Jessica Suzanne Lowndes
    American actress
  • Jessica Jung
    Korean,American singer, actress, businesswoman and former member of South Korean girl group Girls' Generation
  • Jessica Sula
    Welsh actress starring in ABC Family's "Recovery Road"
  • Jessica Mitford
    English author
  • Jessica Jean (Schafer) Skube
    American family vlogger known as "Jesssfam"
  • Jessica "Settie" Gee
    American YouTuber of The Bucket List Family
  • Jessica Jane Willis
    first child in family band The Willis Clan
  • Jessica "Jess" Stout aka Aphmau
    American YouTuber
  • Jessica Ott
    Best Friend of YouTuber Jordan Frye
  • Jessica "Jess" Bauer Conte
    YouTuber
  • Jessica Wesson
    (born 1982) retired American Actress
  • Jessica Marie McDonald
    American soccer player

Jessica in Pop Culture

  • Jessica Jones
    main character on Marvel's show of the same name
  • Jessica Drew aka Spiderwoman
    character in Marvel comics
  • Jessica
    character in Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice"
  • Jessica Fletcher
    main character on TV's "Murder, She Wrote"
  • Jessica Rabbit
    character in movie "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?"
  • Jessica Moore
    character on TV's "Supernatural"
  • Jessica Darling
    main character in the Jessica Darling series by Megan McCafferty
  • Jessica Goldman
    character in Kenneth Lonergan's "This Is Our Youth"
  • Jessica "Jess" Day
    main character on TV's "New Girl"
  • Jessica "Jessie" Prescott
    character on TV's "Jessie"
  • Jessica Glitter
    character on TV's "How I Met Your Mother"
  • Jessica "Jessi" Ramsay
    character in the "Baby,Sitters Club" series
  • Jessica Sherawat
    character in video game "Resident Evil: Revelations"
  • Jessica Daunt
    character in "Tiburon" (1935) by Kylie Tennant
  • Jessica "Jess" Delaney
    character in the "Mother,Daughter Book Club" series by Heather Vogel Frederick
  • Jessica Wakefield
    character in the "Sweet Valley High" book series
  • Jessica Ellis
    character on TV's "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody," twin sister Janice Ellis
  • Jessica Hamby
    character on TV's "True Blood"
  • Jessica Lourdes Pearson
    character on TV's "Suits"
  • Jessica Davis
    character in "Thirteen Reasons Why"
  • Amelia "Amy " Jessica Pond
    character on TV's "Doctor Who"
  • Jessica "Jess
    " character on TV's "Misfits"
  • Jessica DiLaurentis
    Alison Dilaurentis' mother in "Pretty Little Liars"
  • Jessica "Jess"
    character in video game "Until Dawn"
  • Jessica Danforth
    character on TV's "Arrow"
  • Jessica Alkirk
    from Lunar the Silver Star and its remakes
  • Jessica Albert
    character in video game 'Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King'
  • Jessica Riley
    character in film "Crazy, Stupid, Love"
  • Jessica
    character in "Rick and Morty"
  • "Jessica
    " song by the Allman Brothers
  • "Jessica
    " song by Regina Spektor
  • "Let's Scare Jessica to Death
    " 1971 horror movie
  • Jessica Cruz
    (aka Green Lantern), character in the DC Universe
  • Jessica Lovejoy
    a minor one,shot character from "The Simpsons"
  • Jessica Hunter
    one of Mackenzie Hollister’s best friends and antagonist of “Dork Diaries”.