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Jessa

#2,225 in 2025Girls' name

Diminutive of Jessica

Jessa has been given to 6,467 babies in the U.S. since 1918. In 2025 it ranked #2,225 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2015, with 572 recorded.

Babies named Jessa, 2025

1 in 39,900

Jessa over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
020040060018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Jessa: meaning, origin, and history

Diminutive of Jessica

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Jessa means

Jessa is a diminutive of Jessica.

Meaning behind the documented name family

The name developed through Jessa → Jessica. The family’s proposed meaning is “he will see/behold/look for”, recorded in English.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

20th-century coinage from Jessie + feminine suffix -a; compare Jenna from Jenny.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Jessa (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Jessa is used in English.

Jessa is a modern formation.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Jessica.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 6,462 girls were recorded with the name Jessa between 1918 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 572 in 2015; its best national rank was #545 in 2015.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #1,325 in 2020 to #2,225 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #545 in 2015 to #2,225 in 2025.

In the United States, 5 boys were recorded with the name Jessa between 1929 and 1929. Its highest annual count was 5 in 1929; its best national rank was #4,270 in 1929.

How common is Jessa?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 39,900
83 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 19,400
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#2,225
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
27,687 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Jessa sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 5001%

Put another way: gather 27,687 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Jessa. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Jessas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Jessa was born before 2012 — so the typical Jessa is around 13 today.

Median birth year
2012
About 13 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
46.5% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
74.7%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
6,457
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 46.5% of all recorded uses (3,007).

Is Jessa rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−190
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−900
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−1,680
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.15×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
14.5%
Peak was 2015 (572)
Years since peak
10
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
25.5% average annual change
Best rank ever
#545
2015

Spellings of Jessa

Jessa is not the most common spelling — Jessica is, with 61.7% against Jessa's 0.38%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Jessa is used

Across 2016–2025, Jessa was most concentrated in West Virginia — about 1 in 3,448 girls, against 1 in 9,475 across all states with data. It was least common in New Jersey (1 in 50,000).

229 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1West Virginia1 in 3,448
  2. 2Iowa1 in 4,348
  3. 3Indiana1 in 5,556
  4. 4Kentucky1 in 5,882
  5. 5Ohio1 in 5,882
  6. 6Wisconsin1 in 6,250
  7. 7Alabama1 in 6,667
  8. 8Michigan1 in 6,667

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Jessa around the world

Where Jessa ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2014–2025
    #4,867
    in 2025
  • Ireland
    2017–2024
    #898
    in 2024
  • Canada
    1991–2024
    #1,968
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1995–1997
    #681
    in 1997

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Central Statistics Office, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Jessa

People whose public names include Jessa, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Jessa by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#2,225
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 900
Best rank ever
#545
2015
Peak year
2015
572 that year
First recorded
1918
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
6,462
Count in 2025
83

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#4,270
1929
Peak year
1929
5 that year
First recorded
1929
Last recorded
1929
All-time count
5
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Jessa

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

JessiJesseJesusJesicaJessyJessikaLissaJeseniaTressaElyssaJeslynJesslynJesseniaNyssaDessaAnissaNissaTeressaAlessaJeslyAllyssaNessaJessalynAnessa

Names with a curve like Jessa

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Jessa, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

TeganJaydeCambriaKyrieAmiaAlannahNailahKamilleAudrianaAubriMontserratAnnalee

Sibling names for Jessa

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Jessa

Top names of 2015, Jessa's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 2015Girls' names starting with J