UK girl's name
Jessica
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "wealthy" or "God beholds".
For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2024. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.
Jessica is a girl's name in the UK records. People looking for Jessica popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #95, with 483 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 1996, with 6,711 births.
This profile covers 105,041 England and Wales registrations across 29 recorded years from 1996 to 2024. The figures come from ONS England and Wales, NRS Scotland and NISRA Northern Ireland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.
The latest count is about 7% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.
We estimate that about 115,848 living people in the UK are called Jessica. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2025 or 2026.
Key insights
- • Jessica ranked #95 for girls in England and Wales in 2024, with 483 registrations.
- • The name peaked in 1996, when 6,711 girls were registered as Jessica.
- • Jessica ranks best in East of England in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #1 in 2016.
- • About 115,848 living people in the UK are estimated to have Jessica as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.
Latest rank (E&W)
#95
2024
Births in 2024
483
Latest year
Peak year
1996
6,711 births
Estimated living
115,848
2026
Meaning
What does Jessica mean?
The name Jessica has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture. It is a variant of the ancient Hebrew name Yehoshua or Yeshua, which translates to "Yahweh is salvation" or "Yahweh is deliverance." The name Yeshua was borne by the central figure of Christianity, Jesus Christ.
The journey of the name Jessica began when the Hebrew name Yeshua was transliterated into Greek as "Iesous." This Greek form was then adopted into Latin as "Iesus." Over time, the name evolved into various forms in different European languages, such as the Spanish "Jesús," the Italian "Gesù," and the English "Jesus."
One of the early recorded instances of the name Jessica can be found in the 16th century Italian Renaissance literature, specifically in the works of Giovanni Boccaccio and Ariosto. It was used as a variant of the Italian name "Gessica," which was derived from the Latin "Iesus."
In the 16th century, the English playwright William Shakespeare popularized the name Jessica in his famous play "The Merchant of Venice." The character Jessica, the daughter of the Jewish moneylender Shylock, is considered one of the earliest and most notable uses of the name in English literature.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Jessica:
1. Jessica Dubroff (1988-1996), an American student pilot who tragically died in a plane crash at the age of 7 while attempting to become the youngest person to fly across the United States.
2. Jessica Tandy (1909-1994), an English-American actress renowned for her performances in films like "Driving Miss Daisy," for which she won an Academy Award.
3. Jessica Ennis-Hill (born 1986), a British track and field athlete who specialized in heptathlon and won a gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics.
4. Jessica Chastain (born 1977), an American actress known for her roles in films like "Zero Dark Thirty," "The Help," and "Interstellar."
5. Jessica Savitch (1947-1983), an American television news presenter and journalist who was one of the first women to anchor a major US network evening newscast.
Sourced from namecensus.com.
Popularity
Jessica over time
The chart below shows babies named Jessica registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 1996 to 2024. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.
For Jessica, the clearest high point is 1996. The latest England and Wales figure is 483 births in 2024, compared with 6,711 at the peak.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jessica by decade
Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Jessica was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.
| Decade | Average rank | Total births | Years covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | #67 | 3,907 | 5 |
| 2010s | #12 | 29,783 | 10 |
| 2000s | #4 | 48,032 | 10 |
| 1990s | #5 | 23,319 | 4 |
Geography
Where Jessica is most common
The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Jessica. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.
Jessica ranks best in East of England in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #1 in 2016.
Across the UK
Jessica in Scotland and Northern Ireland
Scotland (NRS)
#48 in 2024
51 years of NRS records, 8,191 total registered
Northern Ireland (NISRA)
#127 in 2024
28 years of NISRA records, 3,312 total registered
Notable bearers
Famous people named Jessica
-
Jessica Stretton
archer
British Paralympic archer
2000-
-
Jessica Turner
athletics competitor
English athlete specialising in the 400 metres hurdles
1995-
-
Jessica Warner-Judd
athletics competitor
English middle- and long-distance runner
1995-
-
Jessica Sula
actor
British actress (born 1994)
1994-
-
Jessica Varnish
sport cyclist
English racing cyclist
1990-
-
Jessica Walker
canoeist
British canoeist
1990-
-
Jessica Taylor
combined track and field event athlete
British heptathlete
1988-
-
Jessica Swale
screenwriter; playwright; film director; theatre director
British playwright, theatre director, and screenwriter
1982-
Related
Names similar to Jessica
- Jasmine 35,227
- Jade 19,646
- Julia 11,780
- Jennifer 11,529
- Jodie 9,357
- Jemima 6,454
- Josephine 5,889
- Jessie 5,418
- Josie 5,284
- Jasmin 4,706
- Jenna 4,646
- Joanna 4,037
FAQ
Jessica: questions and answers
How popular is the name Jessica in the UK right now?
In 2024, Jessica was ranked #95 for girls in England and Wales, with 483 births registered.
When was Jessica most popular?
The peak year on record was 1996, with 6,711 babies registered as Jessica in England and Wales.
What is the meaning and origin of Jessica?
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "wealthy" or "God beholds".
How many people are called Jessica in the UK?
A total of 105,041 babies have been registered as Jessica across the 29 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 8,191 more in Scotland and 3,312 in Northern Ireland.
Where is Jessica most common?
In the latest published local rankings, Jessica ranks best in East of England, where it placed #1 in 2016. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.
Which records is this page based on?
The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.