Holding steady.
Popularity of Jessah since 1992
Babies named Jessah per year in U.S. Social Security records. Raw births topped out in 2007, but relative to how few babies were recorded back then, Jessah's real moment was 2016.
Data table (by decade)
| Decade | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1990s | 32 |
| 2000s | 39 |
| 2010s | 77 |
| 2020s | 0 |
Meaning & origin
Jessah is a modern, phonetically smoothed variant of the classic Jessica, a name with literary roots in Shakespeare's 'The Merchant of Venice.' First recorded in the United States in 1992, Jessah has never appeared on the national top 1,000 list, making it a genuinely rare choice. Its peak year was 2016, though even then it remained uncommon. The name's trajectory has been stable, with minimal fluctuation in annual occurrences. As a creative respelling, Jessah appeals to parents seeking a familiar sound with a distinctive spelling, though it has not gained traction in any particular state or region.
Jessah is a modern respelling of Jessica, which was coined by William Shakespeare for 'The Merchant of Venice' (c. 1596) and is believed to derive from the Hebrew name Yiskah, meaning 'to behold' or 'foresight.' The variant Jessah emerged in the late 20th century as part of a trend of creative spelling, first recorded in U.S. data in 1992.
Nicknames & variants
Nicknames: Jess, Jessa, Jessie
Sibling names for Jessah
Names that share Jessah's style, for a brother or sister.
