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Girl or boy · Scottish and English pet form of Hebrew names
Jessie
Say it: JES-ee
Meaning
For girls, a Scottish pet form of Janet or Jean (from Hebrew Yohanan 'God is gracious'), later of Jessica; for boys, a variant of Jesse, from Hebrew Yishai, whose meaning is uncertain (often given as 'gift').
Uncertainseveral explanations, none settled.
Used in Scotland as a nickname for Janet, it was common for American girls and also given to boys in the late 1800s.
Its wave through time
Fading since the 1890s
In the United States
- 278,828 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 1890, about 1 in 152 girls
- 536 babies in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Jessy, Jesse
Famous bearers
- Jessie Willcox Smith, American illustrator
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
- National census records of the 19th and 20th centuries
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.