# Jesse (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/jesse/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | Hebrew |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /ˈd͡ʒɛs.i/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | Jess |
| Variant spellings | Jessie |
| US babies named this | 444,920 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 432,428 / 12,492 (3% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 13,882, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Ancient Greek Ἰεσσαί (Iessaí), from Hebrew יִשַׁי (Yishai).

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 81 | 2,309 |
| 2012 | 80 | 2,346 |
| 2013 | 70 | 2,546 |
| 2014 | 73 | 2,486 |
| 2015 | 67 | 2,666 |
| 2016 | 67 | 2,630 |
| 2017 | 76 | 2,390 |
| 2018 | 82 | 2,248 |
| 2019 | 59 | 2,838 |
| 2020 | 65 | 2,610 |
| 2021 | 69 | 2,544 |
| 2022 | 52 | 3,138 |
| 2023 | 72 | 2,477 |
| 2024 | 73 | 2,475 |
| 2025 | 72 | 2,471 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 2,973 | 140 |
| 2012 | 2,712 | 150 |
| 2013 | 2,571 | 156 |
| 2014 | 2,469 | 172 |
| 2015 | 2,357 | 178 |
| 2016 | 2,310 | 174 |
| 2017 | 2,106 | 186 |
| 2018 | 2,146 | 186 |
| 2019 | 1,979 | 200 |
| 2020 | 1,887 | 203 |
| 2021 | 1,908 | 203 |
| 2022 | 1,979 | 192 |
| 2023 | 1,828 | 202 |
| 2024 | 1,996 | 185 |
| 2025 | 2,002 | 184 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 20 | 1,489 |
| 2012 | 10 | 2,521 |
| 2013 | 9 | 2,649 |
| 2014 | 16 | 1,798 |
| 2015 | 16 | 1,783 |
| 2016 | 14 | 2,008 |
| 2017 | 16 | 1,817 |
| 2018 | 11 | 2,340 |
| 2019 | 13 | 2,040 |
| 2020 | 13 | 2,042 |
| 2021 | 13 | 2,073 |
| 2022 | 7 | 3,148 |
| 2023 | 6 | 3,598 |
| 2024 | 4 | 4,843 |
| 2025 | 9 | 2,788 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 304 | 184 |
| 2012 | 281 | 198 |
| 2013 | 417 | 141 |
| 2014 | 546 | 112 |
| 2015 | 573 | 110 |
| 2016 | 723 | 94 |
| 2017 | 750 | 90 |
| 2018 | 861 | 75 |
| 2019 | 859 | 69 |
| 2020 | 841 | 68 |
| 2021 | 929 | 64 |
| 2022 | 882 | 66 |
| 2023 | 918 | 59 |
| 2024 | 976 | 54 |
| 2025 | 980 | 51 |

## In other languages

- Finnish: Jesse
- Polish: Jesse
- Portuguese: Jessé

## People named Jesse

- Jesse Owens, American track and field athlete (1913–1980)
- Jesse Jackson, American Baptist minister, activist, civil rights leader, politician, and founder of the R
- Jesse Eisenberg, American actor
- Jesse James, American outlaw, confederate guerrilla, and train robber
- Jesse Lingard, English footballer (born 1992)
- Jesse McCartney, American singer and actor
- Jesse Spencer, Australian actor and musician
- Jesse Jane, American pornographic actress (1980–2024)
- Jesse Plemons, American actor (born 1988)
- Jesse Douglas, American mathematician (1897–1965)
- Jesse Metcalfe, American actor
- Jesse Tyler Ferguson, American actor

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.