Find out how popular the last name Jess is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Jess.

Jess, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Jess surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Jess in America

Jess is the 17720th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Jess surname appeared 1,582 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Jess.

We can also compare 2010 data for Jess to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Jess

The surname "Jess" is of English origin, derived from a medieval English nickname for a person named Jesse. It first emerged in the late 12th century as a variant spelling of the biblical name Jesse, the father of King David in the Old Testament.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Jess can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire from 1221, where a certain William Jess is mentioned. The name also appears in the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire from 1273, referencing a Hugo Jese.

During the 13th and 14th centuries, the surname Jess was particularly prevalent in the counties of Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, and Wiltshire in southern England. It is believed that the name may have originated as a locational surname, referring to someone who hailed from a place called Jess or Jesse, although the precise location is now lost to history.

In the 16th century, the surname Jess was sometimes spelled as Gesse or Gess, reflecting the interchangeable use of "J" and "G" in Middle English. One notable individual from this period was John Gesse, a prominent merchant and alderman in the city of Bristol, who lived from around 1510 to 1580.

During the 17th century, the spelling of the surname solidified as Jess. A notable bearer of the name was Sir John Jess (1597-1663), an English politician who served as a Member of Parliament for Middlesex and was a supporter of the Parliamentarian cause during the English Civil War.

In the 18th century, the surname Jess spread beyond its traditional strongholds in southern England. One notable individual was Thomas Jess (1748-1811), a Scottish poet and playwright who wrote several works in the Scots language.

Other notable bearers of the surname Jess include William Jess (1832-1898), an English cricketer who played for Nottinghamshire, and George Jess (1907-1970), an Australian rules footballer who played for the Carlton Football Club in the Victorian Football League (now known as the Australian Football League).

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Jess

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Jess.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Jess was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Jess has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Jess was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Jess, please contact us.

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