Jessaca
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly a variant of Jessica.
Name Census estimates that about 169 living Americans carry the first name Jessaca. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jessaca today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jessaca births was 1980 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jessaca. 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
169
~ 1 in 2,028,132 Americans
Peak year
1980
15 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2001 SSA rank
#14,305
Tracked since 1972
Census
Jessaca in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 222 people with the first name Jessaca, which placed it at #35,960 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#35,960
National first-name rank
People counted
222
222 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
79.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jessaca
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jessaca is White at 79.7%. The next largest groups are Black (7.2%) and Hispanic (6.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Jessaca described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Jessaca at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White79.7% · 177
- Black or African American7.2% · 16
- Hispanic or Latino6.8% · 15
- Two or more races4.5% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 1
Popularity
Jessaca: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jessaca from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 91 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jessaca 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 Jessaca during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jessaca
The given name Jessaca has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, with the earliest known records dating back to the biblical era. It is a feminine variant of the name Jesse, which derives from the Hebrew word "Ishai," meaning "gift" or "present." The name Jesse holds significance in the Old Testament, as it was the name of the father of King David, making it a revered name in the Jewish tradition.
In the biblical narrative, Jesse was a wealthy landowner and an upright man from the tribe of Judah. His son David, who would later become the celebrated king of Israel, was anointed by the prophet Samuel. This connection to the lineage of the famous King David has contributed to the enduring popularity of the name Jessaca and its variants across various cultures.
The earliest known recorded use of the name Jessaca dates back to the 16th century, when it was used as a variant spelling of the name Jessica. One of the first notable individuals to bear this name was Jessaca Duarte, a Portuguese noblewoman who lived in the late 16th century and was known for her philanthropic work.
In the 17th century, the name Jessaca gained prominence in England, where it was often used as a variant of the name Jessie or Jessica. One notable figure from this period was Jessaca Pennington, an English writer and poet who was born in 1624 and gained recognition for her works on religious themes.
As the name spread across Europe, it was adopted by various cultures and underwent slight variations in spelling and pronunciation. In France, for instance, the name Jessaca was sometimes spelled as Jessique or Jessique, while in Germany, it was known as Jessika.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Jessaca. One such figure was Jessaca Blythe, an American activist and suffragist who fought for women's rights in the early 20th century. Born in 1879, she played a crucial role in the women's suffrage movement and was a vocal advocate for gender equality.
Another prominent individual was Jessaca Milford, a British artist and sculptor who lived from 1908 to 1986. Her works were widely acclaimed for their innovative use of materials and unique styles, and she is regarded as a pioneering figure in the field of modern sculpture.
In the realm of literature, Jessaca Fielding was a renowned American novelist and playwright who lived from 1920 to 2002. Her works explored themes of identity, family dynamics, and social issues, and she was celebrated for her ability to craft complex and nuanced characters.
While the name Jessaca has undergone various transformations and adaptations across different cultures and time periods, its biblical roots and connection to the lineage of King David have endured, contributing to its enduring appeal and significance.
People
Jessaca + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jessaca 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
Jessaca: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jessaca?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 169 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jessaca 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 2,028,132 US residents.
Is Jessaca a common name?
We classify Jessaca as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 179 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jessaca most popular?
The single biggest year for Jessaca was 1980, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jessaca is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jessaca in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 222 people with the name Jessaca, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,960 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Jessaca in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Jessaca?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jessaca appears almost entirely female. Of the 224 people counted with this name, 99.1% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Jessaca?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jessaca is White at 79.7%. The next largest groups are Black (7.2%) and Hispanic (6.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Jessaca most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jessaca in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.7% (177 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Jessaca in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jessaca a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jessaca 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.
Is Jessaca still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jessaca in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Jessaca can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people are called Jessaca?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.