Meanings
plural Jessicas · alternative Jessicah · alternative Jessika · alternative Jessikah · alternative Jessicka · alternative Jessickah · alternative Jessiqa · alternative Jessyca · alternative Jessyka · alternative Jesica · alternative Jesika · alternative Jesyca · alternative Jesyka · alternative Jezica · alternative Jezika · alternative Jezyca
- A female given name from Hebrew.
Jessica. It was, she later thought, a name well suited to whitehaired ladies with bright blue eyes.
2015, Sunjeev Sahota, The Year of the Runaways, Pan Macmillan, →ISBN3 more examples
Lorenzo: In such a night / Did Jessica steal from the wealthy Jew, / And with an unthrift love did run from Venice, / As far as Belmont.
c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]She will be beautiful, of course - how could our child not be beautiful? We will name her...Jessica. Yes, that's a good name, not one of those lighter-than-air names so popular among writers of romances and fairy tales. That's a name a real little girl might have.
1996, Tad Williams, The Writer's Child, The Sandman Book of Dreams, HarperCollins, →ISBN, page 154The first line of dialogue is from an off-screen Field Commander Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain), asking the team to stay in sight and “make NASA proud”.
2016 August 31, “GENIUS CHARACTER REVEALS: Mark Watney”, in Industrial Scripts, archived from the original on 09 Feb 2026
Origin
- Hebrewיִסְכָּה“Iscah in Genesis 11:29, Jescha in the Wycliffe version”
- EnglishJessica
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.
More words from Hebrew
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek Ἰεσχά
- Ἰεσχά (Ieskhá)a female given name
Arabic جِيسِيكَا
- جِيسِيكَا (jesikā)a female given name
Chinese Mandarin 傑西卡 /杰西卡
- 傑西卡 /杰西卡 (Jiéxīkǎ)a female given name
Danish Jessica
- Jessicaa female given name
Esperanto Jiska
- Jiskaa female given name
Finnish Jessika
- Jessikaa female given name
French Jessica
- Jessicaa female given name
German Jessica, Jessika
- Jessicaa female given name
- Jessikaa female given name
Greek Ιεσική
- Ιεσική (Iesikí)a female given name
Hindi जेसिका
- जेसिका (jesikā)a female given name
Hungarian Dzsesszika
- Dzsesszikaa female given name
Italian Gessica
- Gessicaa female given name
Japanese ジェシカ
- ジェシカ (Jeshika)a female given name
Korean 제시카
- 제시카 (Jesika)a female given name
Latvian Jesika, Džesika
- Jesikaa female given name
- Džesikaa female given name
Polish Dżesika, Jessica
- Dżesikaa female given name
- Jessicaa female given name
Portuguese Jéssica
- Jéssicaa female given name
Romanian Jessica
- Jessicaa female given name
Russian Дже́ссика
- Дже́ссика (Džéssika)a female given name
Spanish Jéssica, Jésica
- Jéssicaa female given name
- Jésicaa female given name
- Yésicaa female given name
- Yéssicaa female given name
- Jesicaa female given name
- Yessicaa female given name
Swedish Jessica, Jessika
- Jessicaa female given name
- Jessikaa female given name
Thai เจสสิกา
- เจสสิกาa female given name
Turkish Jessikâ
- Jessikâa female given name
Cite this entry
Jessica. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Jessica
“Jessica.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Jessica. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Jessica,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Jessica.
Source: Jessica on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.