Jessi
Masculine · “Hebrew Yishai”
Jessi is given to both — 1,321 boys and 6,553 girls since 1880. See Jessi as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Jesse is barely a character. He appears as David's father, sends his son out with cheese for his brothers, and does nothing else. Yet his name has outlasted almost every king in the book, while Rehoboam, Jehoshaphat and Ahab are gone entirely.
How old is the name Jessi?
Jessi first appears in US birth records in 1970 — 55 years ago. The typical Jessi alive today was born around 1994, making them about 31 years old. About 1,300 people named Jessi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jessi most popular?
Jessi peaked in 1987, reaching #1400 nationally. Today it ranks #9714, 8,314 places below that high. See the whole 1987 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Yishai to Jessi
The story of Jessi
Which biblical names survived is not a matter of how important the bearer was. Jesse, Caleb, Nathan, Jared, Enoch, Levi and Asher are all minor or genealogical figures and all are in ordinary modern use. Meanwhile the kings who occupy whole chapters, Rehoboam, Jeroboam, Jehoshaphat, Ahaz, Manasseh, Ahab and Zedekiah, have effectively disappeared. Three things seem to decide it. A name has to be pronounceable in the receiving language, which rules out most of the theophoric compounds. It has to be attached to someone who is not a villain, which removes Ahab and Jezebel. And it benefits enormously from a Reformation-era revival, since English Protestants combing the Old Testament for names took the short and the euphonious. Jesse passes all three tests without ever having done anything.
Meaningscholars disagree
Hebrew Yishai, of uncertain meaning
Jessi is a spelling of Jesse, Hebrew Yishai, the father of David, whose name's meaning is not established. The -i ending is female in American use, which makes the male entries unusual. The peak of this spelling for men is 1987.
How the name formed
- Yishai
- Jesse
- Jessi
Related forms: Jesse · Yishai
Pronouncing Jessi
JES-ee
Two syllables, stress on the first. Jessi, Jesse and Jessie are homophones; the -i ending is female in American use and the -e male.
Nicknames for Jessi
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1970
- Most boys named
- 199467 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1400reached in 1987
- Change vs 2023
- +40.0%7 in 2025, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Jessi in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Jesse in English — spelling variant
- Yishai in Hebrew — same name
Jessis among us
people named Jessi are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 244,011 born in 2025 was named Jessi
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Jessi
- #9714
- Jessi on the 2025 chart
- #903
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Jessi went to 7 boys in 2025, but Jessy is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 25, which makes it the 903rd most-given boys’ name of the year — 8,811 places above the chart.
- Jessy18
- Jessi7
About 1 boy in 68,323 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 244,011 for Jessi itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Yul test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Jessi's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Yul climbed just as high around 1960, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Yul's path sketches the road Jessi is walking now.
Jessi sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Jessi beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Jessi in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Jess works as a short form and is widely used.
- The biblical figure is well known through his son.
- Two syllables with a firm first-syllable stress.
- The -i ending reads as female to most Americans.
- Jesse is the standard male spelling.
- The meaning of the Hebrew name is not settled.
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What they receive
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Jessi
Masculine · #9714 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Jessis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,300 people named Jessi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Jessi?
- Jessi is one of 2 recorded spellings. Jessy is the more common one — 18 births in 2025 against 7 for Jessi.
- How popular is the name Jessi in 2025?
- Jessi ranks #9714 among US boy names in 2025, with 7 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Jessi?
- About 1 in every 244,011 US boys born in 2025 was named Jessi — 7 in all.
- Will my child share the name Jessi with classmates?
- Jessi will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Jessi
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Vern#9714 · Abrahm#9714 · Sid#9714 · Hartwell#9714 · Kwan#9714 · Adrean#9714 · Chancey#9714 · Bob#9714
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Jessi? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Jessi and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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