Jess

Did you know?

A few things about Jess you might not know, from US birth records and Wikipedia. Handy for convincing a partner, or a grandparent.

⭐ Famous Jess

Jess Glynne

British singer (born 1989)

Choose Jess and your child shares a first name with Jess Glynne, a British singer. A ready-made answer when someone asks “Jess, like who?” Jess Glynne's Wikipedia article is available in 40 languages, a good sign of just how widely known they are.

Read about Jess Glynne on Wikipedia ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Photo: Cal Holman from Columbus, GA, USA, CC BY 2.0 (opens in a new tab), via Wikimedia Commons

• 👶How commonAbout 1 in every 95,238 baby boys born in the US in 2025 was named Jess, 18 babies in all. In a typical school of 500 kids, your Jess would very likely be the only one.
• 📜HistoryJess has been in use since at least 1880, the first year US birth records were kept. That's 145 years of Jesss, and counting.
• 🏆Best yearIt was far more popular in 1887, when it ranked #109. Today it's #5,208, so it could be due a comeback.
• 📉Then vs nowJess was 3.7× more common in 2000 than it is today. In 2000 it was given to about 1 in 25,510 baby boys; in 2025, about 1 in 95,238.
• 🍂TrendJess has slipped 782 places over the last five years and now sits at #5,208. Good news if you want a familiar name that fewer kids will share.
• ⚖️Boy or girlJess is given to both boys and girls: 64% of the 28 babies named Jess in 2025 were boys. That makes it one of the names that truly works for either.
• 💬MeaningJess is an English form of Jesse, which means “God beholds”. Our records link it to English and Hebrew roots.

About the name Jess

Jess is a gender-neutral name of English and Hebrew origin meaning “God beholds”. It has 4 letters and 1 syllable, starting with J and ending in “-ess”. US birth records list Jess for boys from 1880 to 2025, in 146 of those 146 years. Its best year was 1887, when it ranked #109 among boy names. In 2025 it ranked #5,208, with 18 babies. Of the 28 US babies named Jess in 2025, 36% were girls and 64% were boys.

Origin:English namesHebrew names