Yessica
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "wealthy" or "prosperous".
Name Census estimates that about 3,825 living Americans carry the first name Yessica. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Yessica today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yessica births was 1995 (175 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yessica. 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
3.8K
~ 1 in 89,609 Americans
Peak year
1995
175 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,131
Tracked since 1973
Census
Yessica in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,653 people with the first name Yessica, which placed it at #2,708 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
#2,708
National first-name rank
People counted
8.7K
8,653 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
97.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Yessica
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yessica is Hispanic at 97.6%. The next largest groups are White (1.5%) and Black (0.5%). 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 Yessica 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 Yessica at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino97.6% · 8,444
- White1.5% · 126
- Black or African American0.5% · 39
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 36
- Two or more races0.1% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.0% · 3
Popularity
Yessica: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yessica from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 1,438 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
Yessica 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 Yessica during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yessicas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 19 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Yessica, while Oregon, New Mexico, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 144 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Yessica
The name Yessica is believed to have originated from the Hebrew name Yiska, which means "fringed" or "sacrificed." This name gained popularity during the Middle Ages in Europe, particularly in Spain and Italy.
In ancient times, the name Yiska was sometimes used in biblical texts and religious scriptures as a reference to the Jewish practice of wearing fringed garments as a symbol of their faith. However, the exact origins of the name Yessica and its transition from Yiska are still debated by scholars.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Yessica can be found in a 12th-century Spanish manuscript, where it was used to refer to a young woman from a noble family. During the Renaissance period, the name became more widespread across Europe, and several notable figures bore this name.
One of the most famous historical figures with the name Yessica was Yessica de Carvajal, a Spanish explorer and adventurer who accompanied Hernán Cortés on his expedition to Mexico in the 16th century. Another notable Yessica was Yessica Mercuriale, an Italian physician and philosopher from the 16th century, who made significant contributions to the field of medicine.
In the 17th century, Yessica Duarte was a prominent Portuguese poet and writer, known for her lyrical works that explored themes of love and spirituality. A century later, Yessica Manzoni, an Italian novelist and playwright, gained recognition for her influential works that addressed social and political issues of her time.
Moving into the 19th century, Yessica Hernández was a renowned Mexican artist and activist, whose vibrant paintings and murals depicted the struggles and resilience of indigenous communities. Her works continue to inspire and influence contemporary artists and social movements.
People
Yessica + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yessica as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with Y
Other first names starting with Y with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Yessica: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yessica?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,825 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yessica 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 89,609 US residents.
Is Yessica a common name?
We classify Yessica as "Rare". It ranks above 95.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,935 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yessica most popular?
The single biggest year for Yessica was 1995, when 175 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yessica is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Yessica in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,653 people with the name Yessica, or 2.86 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,708 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 Yessica 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 Yessica?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Yessica appears almost entirely female. Of the 8,654 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Yessica?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yessica is Hispanic at 97.6%. The next largest groups are White (1.5%) and Black (0.5%). 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 Yessica most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Yessica in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.6% (8,444 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 Yessica in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yessica a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yessica 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 Yessica still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yessica 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 Yessica 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 have the name Yessica?
See how many people share the name Yessica on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.