Jessey
A diminutive form of the masculine name Jesse, of Hebrew origin meaning "gift".
Name Census estimates that about 1,117 living Americans carry the first name Jessey. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 76.3% of registrations being male. The average person named Jessey today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jessey births was 1994 (60 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jessey. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Jessey with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 306,853 Americans
Peak year
1994
60 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2022 SSA rank
#10,284
Tracked since 1920
Census
Jessey in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,110 people with the first name Jessey, which placed it at #11,508 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#11,508
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,110 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
58.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jessey
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jessey is White at 58.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (22.3%) and Black (8.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Jessey described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Jessey at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White58.6% · 650
- Hispanic or Latino22.3% · 247
- Black or African American8.0% · 89
- Two or more races5.3% · 59
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.9% · 54
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 11
Gender
Gender distribution for Jessey
Jessey is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,209 total registrations, 922 (76.3%) were male and 287 (23.7%) were female.
Jessey as a male name
- Ranked #10,284 in 2022
- 7 male births in 2022
- Peak: 1994 (48 births)
Jessey as a female name
- Ranked #14,612 in 2018
- 6 female births in 2018
- Peak: 1993 (17 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Jessey on both sides of the split. Of the 1,110 people counted with this name, 782 were male (70.5%) and 328 were female (29.5%).
Popularity
Jessey: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jessey from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 431 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jessey by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Jessey during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jesseys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Jessey
The name Jessey finds its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, tracing back to ancient times. It is a variant or diminutive form of the name Jesse, which is derived from the Hebrew name "Yishai" or "Yishay," meaning "gift" or "present." This name holds significant historical and religious significance, particularly in the Judeo-Christian traditions.
In the Old Testament of the Bible, Jesse was the father of King David, the celebrated ruler of ancient Israel. This biblical figure is mentioned in several passages, including the Book of Ruth and the Books of Samuel. Jesse's lineage is crucial in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, as described in the Gospel of Matthew.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Jessey can be traced back to the Middle Ages in various European regions. During this period, it was commonly used as a diminutive form of Jesse, often given to children or as a nickname. Some notable historical figures who bore the name Jessey include:
1. Jessey Balcombe (1741-1826), an English landowner and merchant in the British West Indies.
2. Jessey Byrde (1580-1651), an English clergyman and religious writer.
3. Jessey Hill (1786-1838), an English engraver and portrait painter.
4. Jessey Earl (1861-1924), an English cricketer who played for Essex County Cricket Club.
5. Jessey Norman (1924-2010), an American civil rights activist and educator.
Throughout history, the name Jessey has been used across various cultures and regions, albeit less commonly than its parent name, Jesse. Its popularity has ebbed and flowed over time, influenced by cultural and religious factors. While not as widely known as some other names, Jessey has maintained a presence in various historical records and accounts, reflecting its enduring appeal and connection to its Hebrew roots.
People
Jessey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jessey as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Jessey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jessey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,117 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jessey going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 306,853 US residents.
Is Jessey a common name?
We classify Jessey as "Rare". It ranks above 90.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,209 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jessey most popular?
The single biggest year for Jessey was 1994, when 60 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jessey is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jessey in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,110 people with the name Jessey, or 0.37 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,508 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Jessey in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Jessey?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Jessey on both sides of the split. Of the 1,110 people counted with this name, 782 were male (70.5%) and 328 were female (29.5%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Jessey?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jessey is White at 58.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (22.3%) and Black (8.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Jessey most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jessey in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.6% (650 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Jessey in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jessey a male name?
Yes, 76.3% of people registered as Jessey in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Jessey still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jessey in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Jessey can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Jessey?
You can see how many people share the name Jessey on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.