MEANING & HISTORY
What does Jessica mean?
Jessica appears in this spelling as Shylock’s daughter in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. The usual scholarly explanation is that Shakespeare adapted the biblical name Iscah, encountered in contemporary translations as Jescha or Jischa.
That Hebrew name is connected with a verb for seeing or looking, which explains proposed glosses such as he will behold. The link is a proposal about how the literary name was formed, not a reason to translate every Jessica as wealthy or a gift. Its identifiable Shakespearean formation is the most useful concise account.
Pronunciation & syllables
Dictionary readings are kept by language. Select the reading that matches your intended pronunciation. Dots show the source’s written divisions; they are not a universal syllable count across languages.
Spanish
- /ˈʝesika/
- [ˈɟ͡ʝe.si.ka]
- /ˈʃesika/
- [ˈʃe.si.ka]
- /ˈʒesika/
- [ˈʒe.si.ka]
Jes · si · ca3 source divisions
Dictionary reading & contributors ↗Wiktionary contributors / Kaikki / Wiktextract · CC BY-SA 4.0
Origin and name formation
Language-specific accounts from the dictionary. A shared spelling can have more than one history.
CebuanoEtymology & source
From English Jessica.
a female given name
Wiktionary: Jessica (Cebuano) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
EnglishEtymology & source
First used by William Shakespeare in Merchant of Venice in the early 17th century, probably from Hebrew יִסְכָּה (yiská, “Iscah in Genesis 11:29, Jescha in the Wycliffe version”), a proper name meaning "he will see/behold/look for", the 3ms imperfect form of a verb ultimately from the root ס־כ־ה (s-k-h), itself an alternative form of the root שׂ־כ־ה (ś-k-h), both of which mean "to see, behold, look for". By folk etymology seen as an elaborate form of Jessie, from Jane.
A female given name from Hebrew.
Wiktionary: Jessica (English) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
SpanishEtymology & source
Unadapted borrowing from English Jessica.
a female given name
Wiktionary: Jessica (Spanish) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
Adapted from Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki/Wiktextract. Source accounts remain in their original English; editorial summaries and filters are adapted. Attribution and downloads
People with the name Jessica
Public figures and other documented namesakes linked by an explicit given-name claim. This is a selection of records, not a popularity ranking.
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Jessica Sanchez
Filipino-American singer
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Jessica Zafra
Filipino writer
The record establishes the name association, not the person’s intended meaning, pronunciation or ancestry. Descriptions are attributed to Wikidata contributors (CC0).
Use in Philippine-linked records
Public-record transcription
2
eligible source records · 2001
This spelling is reported in an openly licensed transcription of elected-candidate records. This is a record count, not a birth count or national popularity measure.
OpenHalalan / COMELEC ↗Wikidata
5
distinct person records with an explicit given-name claim
Community-edited coverage, not a census or birth registry. Examples: Jessica Sanchez, Jessica Zafra
PSA · OFFICIAL BIRTH RECORDS
Jessica in the birth records
Exact spelling and stated year in the published name tables. Read the counts as individual snapshots.
Tables included: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The 2016 fact sheet lists five names per sex; the later tables include ten. Missing counts are not inferred. Sex categories follow the official tables, independently of dictionary gender labels. Explore the official tables →
Similar names to Jessica
Names with a similar opening or ending, ordered by spelling distance. Similar spelling does not imply the same meaning or origin.
Names in this collection
- Jessika♀Variant of the literary name Jessica
- Jennica♀Blend of Jennifer and Jessica
- Jessie♂♀Familiar form of Jean or Jessica; also a form of Jesse
- Jesie·Documented form in the Jesse name family
- Jess·Short form of Jesse, Jessica or Jessamy
- Jesse♂♀Hebrew Yishai; possibly gift or existence
- Jessy♀Variant of Jesse or Jessie, with separate name histories
- Jesusa♀Feminine form of Jesús; the Lord saves
What rhymes with Jessica?
No dictionary-confirmed rhyme match is available for this spelling in the current catalogue.
Recorded combinations with Jessica
2 source-reported compound forms include this name as a component. Each part keeps its own history.
Names in this collection
- Jessica Jane·Shakespearean Jessica with John-family Jane
- Ma Jessica·Conditional abbreviation reading: Ma (Maria) + Jessica
Explore Jessica further
Follow the sources
- OpenHalalan — pinned 2001 COMELEC transcription (opens in a new tab)
Source-reported given-name form in a row with a separate explicit middle initial; ODbL-1.0.
- COMELEC — 2001 List of Elected Candidates (opens in a new tab)
Original document identified by the transcription; selected PDF entries were spot-checked, not every imported row.
- Wikidata given-name item Q630846 — Jessica (opens in a new tab)
Given-name identity, native labels, language associations and explicit class where present; not lexical meaning or population frequency.
- Wikidata — Jessica Sanchez (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q630846 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wikidata — Jessica Zafra (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q630846 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wiktionary contributors — Jessica (Cebuano) (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name sense and separately attributed etymology; no birth-frequency claim.
- Wiktionary contributors — Jessica (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Wiktionary contributors — Jessica (Spanish) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Behind the Name — Jessica (opens in a new tab)
Onomastic account consulted for this exact name or its explicitly linked name family.