Jessy
A diminutive form of the English feminine name Jessica, meaning "wealthy" or "God beholds."
Name Census estimates that about 6,288 living Americans carry the first name Jessy. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 69.2% of registrations being male. The average person named Jessy today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jessy births was 1993 (263 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jessy. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Jessy with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
6.3K
~ 1 in 54,509 Americans
Peak year
1993
263 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,313
Tracked since 1915
Census
Jessy in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 7,739 people with the first name Jessy, which placed it at #2,929 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
#2,929
National first-name rank
People counted
7.7K
7,739 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
40.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jessy
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jessy is White at 40.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (38.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (12.6%). 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 Jessy 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 Jessy at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White40.0% · 3,098
- Hispanic or Latino38.1% · 2,947
- Asian and Pacific Islander12.6% · 975
- Black or African American5.6% · 437
- Two or more races2.6% · 200
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 82
Gender
Gender distribution for Jessy
Jessy is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 6,722 total registrations, 4,652 (69.2%) were male and 2,070 (30.8%) were female.
Jessy as a male name
- Ranked #5,125 in 2024
- 19 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1992 (188 births)
Jessy as a female name
- Ranked #4,313 in 2024
- 33 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1994 (81 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Jessy on both sides of the split. Of the 7,736 people counted with this name, 4,078 were male (52.7%) and 3,658 were female (47.3%).
Popularity
Jessy: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jessy from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 2,161 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jessy 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 Jessy during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jessys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 30 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Jessy, while North Dakota, Massachusetts, Kansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 87 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jessy
The name Jessy is an English diminutive form of the name Jessica, which ultimately derives from the Hebrew name Yěhōshūăʿ, meaning "Yahweh is salvation." The name Jessica was first popularized in the 16th century through its use in literature, particularly in the play "The Merchant of Venice" by William Shakespeare.
Jessy emerged as a nickname or pet form of Jessica in the 18th century, but it wasn't until the 19th century that it gained popularity as an independent given name. During this time, the name Jessy was favored by English and Scottish families, often carrying connotations of simplicity and affection.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Jessy can be found in the novel "The Vicar of Wakefield" by Oliver Goldsmith, published in 1766. In the book, the character Jessy Primrose is the youngest daughter of the protagonist, Dr. Primrose. This literary reference helped to establish the name's place in English-speaking cultures.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Jessy. One of the most famous was Jessy Cameron Brown (1799-1871), a Scottish novelist and writer who was celebrated for her novels and short stories depicting rural Scottish life. Another prominent figure was Jessy Rendall (1830-1892), an English poet and hymn writer whose works were widely published during the Victorian era.
In the 20th century, Jessy Matador (1920-2004) was a notable French singer and actress who gained fame for her performances in cabaret and music halls across Europe. Additionally, Jessy Norman (1945-2019) was an American opera singer and recitalist who was celebrated for her performances of works by Wagner and Strauss, among others.
A more contemporary figure is Jessy Schram (born in 1986), an American actress best known for her roles in television series such as "Veronica Mars" and "Last Resort." Her portrayal of various characters has contributed to the continued relevance of the name Jessy in modern times.
While the name Jessy has its roots in the Hebrew language and gained popularity through literary references and notable individuals, it has also been embraced across various cultures and societies, reflecting its enduring appeal and versatility.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Jessy
People
Jessy + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jessy 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
Jessy: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jessy?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,288 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jessy 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 54,509 US residents.
Is Jessy a common name?
We classify Jessy as "Rare". It ranks above 97% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,722 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jessy most popular?
The single biggest year for Jessy was 1993, when 263 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jessy is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jessy in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 7,739 people with the name Jessy, or 2.56 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,929 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 Jessy 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 Jessy?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Jessy on both sides of the split. Of the 7,736 people counted with this name, 4,078 were male (52.7%) and 3,658 were female (47.3%). 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 Jessy?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jessy is White at 40.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (38.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (12.6%). 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 Jessy most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jessy in the 2020 Census, accounting for 40.0% (3,098 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 Jessy in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jessy a male name?
Yes, 69.2% of people registered as Jessy in the SSA data are male. 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 Jessy still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jessy 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 Jessy 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 named Jessy?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.