Jeslyn
A feminine name possibly derived from the name Jessica, with potential Hebrew origins.
Name Census estimates that about 1,504 living Americans carry the first name Jeslyn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jeslyn today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jeslyn births was 2005 (113 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jeslyn. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
1.5K
~ 1 in 227,895 Americans
Peak year
2005
113 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,934
Tracked since 1977
Popularity
Jeslyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jeslyn from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 667 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jeslyn by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Jeslyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jeslyns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. Texas, California, New York recorded the most babies named Jeslyn, while New Jersey, Kentucky, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 48 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jeslyn
The name Jeslyn is a variant of the name Jocelyn, which has its origins in the French language. Jocelyn is derived from the Old French name "Gaucelin," which is a combination of the Germanic elements "gawiz" meaning "youth" and "lind" meaning "serpent" or "flexible." The name was commonly used in medieval France and England.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Jocelyn can be found in the 12th century, when a French nobleman named Jocelyn de Brakelond lived in England. He is known for writing a chronicle of the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds, providing valuable insights into the lives of monks during that time.
In the 13th century, there was a prominent French churchman named Jocelyn de Vaux, who served as the Archbishop of Bordeaux from 1238 to 1243. He played a significant role in the negotiations between King Henry III of England and the French monarchy.
During the 14th century, the name Jocelyn was associated with Jocelyn de Courtenay, an English noblewoman who married Sir John Holland, the half-brother of King Richard II of England. Their son, also named Jocelyn, became the 4th Earl of Kent.
In the realm of literature, one of the most notable figures with the name Jocelyn is the character Jocelyn de Breteuil from the 19th-century novel "The Cloister and the Hearth" by Charles Reade. The novel, published in 1861, depicts the life of a young scholar during the Renaissance period.
Another noteworthy individual named Jocelyn was Jocelyn Proby, an English writer and socialite who lived from 1825 to 1908. She was known for her memoirs, which provided insights into the social circles of Victorian England.
While the variant spelling "Jeslyn" is less common, it is likely a modern adaptation of the traditional name Jocelyn, reflecting the evolution of names over time and across different cultures.
People
Jeslyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jeslyn as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Jeslyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jeslyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,504 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jeslyn going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 227,895 US residents.
Is Jeslyn a common name?
We classify Jeslyn as "Rare". It ranks above 92.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,527 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jeslyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Jeslyn was 2005, when 113 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jeslyn is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Jeslyn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jeslyn in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.