Pessy
Feminine · “of Passover”
Pessy is a Yiddish name, still in active use in Hasidic communities, and it belongs to the same tradition that gave Chaya, Rivky and Sury their -y endings. Behind it is a much older word tied to Passover.
How old is the name Pessy?
Pessy first appears in US birth records in 1971 — 54 years ago. The typical Pessy is a kid of about 12 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,200 people named Pessy are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Pessy most popular?
Pessy peaked in 2020, reaching #2682 nationally. Today it ranks #3167, 485 places below that high. See the whole 2020 chart.
Pessy appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From Pesach to Pessy
The story of Pessy
Yiddish women's names were built by adding diminutive endings — -el, -e, -y — to a Hebrew, German or Slavic base, and Pesse, Pessel and Pessy are one such family. The name has been in continuous use in Ashkenazi communities for centuries and remains common in Hasidic families today, where the -y ending is the standard modern spelling in English. It appears in American records chiefly in New York and its neighboring states.
Meaningscholars disagree
of Passover
The usual reading connects Pesse and Pessel, the older Yiddish forms, to Pesach, the Hebrew name of Passover, marking a child born at that season. A second account treats Pessel as a Yiddish form of the biblical Batya, by an older pairing of names now hard to trace.
How the name formed
- Pesach
- Pessel
- Pessy
Related forms: Pessel · Pesia
Pronouncing Pessy
PESS-ee
Two syllables, first stressed, with a short first vowel. There is little variation.
Nicknames for Pessy
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
- 1971
- Most girls named
- 202163 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2682reached in 2020
- Change vs 2024
- −9.1%50 in 2025, from 55
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.
Pessy in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Pessel in Yiddish — related form
- Pesia in Hebrew — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, New Jersey.
Pessys among us
people named Pessy are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 32,145 born in 2025 was named Pessy
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Quianna test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Pessy's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Quianna climbed just as high around 1986, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Quianna's path sketches the road Pessy is walking now.
Pessy 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 Pessy is headed
Pessy should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium 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.
Pessy beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Pessy in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A living community name with centuries of continuous use behind it.
- Five letters, two syllables, and easy to write early.
- It ties directly to one of the central festivals of the Jewish year.
- It is very strongly marked as a community name and reads that way immediately.
- Pessy, Pesi and Pessel are all in use and different branches may prefer different ones.
- Outside the community it will need explaining every time, which is a small permanent cost.
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What they receive
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Pessy
Feminine · #3167 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Pessys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,200 people named Pessy are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Pessy in 2025?
- Pessy ranks #3167 among US girl names in 2025, with 50 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Pessy?
- About 1 in every 32,145 US girls born in 2025 was named Pessy — 50 in all.
- Will my child share the name Pessy with classmates?
- Pessy will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Pessy
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Lulu#3167 · Lucina#3167 · Irma#3167 · Leyna#3167 · Skylee#3167 · Amairani#3167 · Jorja#3167 · Jozie#3167
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Pessy? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Pessy and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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
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