Jessie
Feminine · “God is gracious”
Jessie is given to both — 170,036 girls and 111,331 boys since 1880. See Jessie as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Jessie began as a Scottish pet form of Jean, sung in Scots parlour songs and carried out of Scotland by emigrant families in the nineteenth century. Two short syllables, both easy to say and easy to spell, with Jess waiting inside it. It has been on American records for as long as American records have existed, and it has never fully left.
How old is the name Jessie?
Jessie was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Jessie alive today was born around 1927, making them about 98 years old. About 60,000 people named Jessie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jessie most popular?
Jessie peaked in 1881, reaching #34 nationally. Today it ranks #823, 789 places below that high. See the whole 1881 chart.
Jessie appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From Yohanan to Jessie
The story of Jessie
The name is Scots first. Jessie grew up as the everyday form of Jean in Scotland, common enough by the early nineteenth century to carry a popular song of the period, 'Jessie, the Flower o' Dunblane', and it traveled with Scottish and Ulster families to North America. There it met two other names heading the same way: Jessica, which shortens to Jessie, and Jesse, the Old Testament name of David's father, which does the same for boys. By the time American birth records began, all three roads were feeding the same four letters — which is why Jessie has been given steadily to girls and, in smaller numbers, to boys ever since.
Meaningscholars disagree
'God is gracious', by way of Jean — though Jessie reaches some bearers through Jesse instead
Jessie arrives by more than one road. As the Scottish pet form of Jean — the Scots form of Jane, from Hebrew Yohanan — it carries the sense 'God is gracious'. As a short form of Jessica, a name Shakespeare shaped for The Merchant of Venice, its meaning is unsettled and often linked to the biblical Iscah. As a short form of Jesse, from Hebrew Yishai, it is usually glossed as 'gift', though that reading is not firm either. Which one applies depends on the family, not the spelling.
How the name formed
- Yohanan
- Iohanna
- Jean
- Jessie
Related forms: Jean · Jessica · Yishai · Jessy · Jessi · Yésica
Pronouncing Jessie
JESS-ee
Two syllables, stress on the first. Jessie, Jessy and Jessi all sound identical; Jesse is usually said the same way too, which is part of why the spellings blur.
Nicknames for Jessie
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
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 19183,591 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #34reached in 1881
- Change vs 2022
- −7.3%330 in 2025, from 356
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.
Jessie in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Jean in Scots — related form
- Jessica in English — related form
- Yishai in Hebrew — related form
- Jessy in English — spelling variant
- Jessi in English — spelling variant
- Yésica in Spanish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Jessies among us
people named Jessie are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 4,871 born in 2025 was named Jessie
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Jessie 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
Where Jessie is headed
Jessie should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Jessie beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Jessie in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Everyone can spell and say it on first hearing — no repetition, no correction at the coffee counter.
- Unbroken presence on American records from the beginning of them, so it has never needed reviving.
- Shortens naturally to Jess, and can be backed by Jessica, Jesse or Jean on a birth certificate if a longer formal name is wanted.
- Works on a boy or a girl, and reads as a full given name rather than only a nickname.
- People will often assume it is short for Jessica and ask for the 'real' name. Worth deciding in advance whether that bothers you or whether the answer is simply 'it's Jessie'.
- Jessie, Jessy, Jessi and Jesse are all in circulation and sound the same, so the spelling will need saying aloud on forms fairly often.
- Most Jessies today are girls, so a boy with this spelling may be read as female on paper before he is met in person.
- It is strongly represented among much older generations, which gives it a settled, familiar sound rather than a new one.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Jessie to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Jessie? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Jessie
Feminine · #823 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Jessies are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 60,000 people named Jessie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Jessie in 2025?
- Jessie ranks #823 among US girl names in 2025, with 330 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Jessie?
- About 1 in every 4,871 US girls born in 2025 was named Jessie — 330 in all.
- Will my child share the name Jessie with classmates?
- Jessie will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Jessie
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Promise#823 · Aliya#823 · Nyomi#823 · Keyla#821 · Nola#821 · Julietta#819 · Celina#827 · Amelie#827
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Jessie? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Jessie and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle