Jess
Jess is given to both girls and boys: 10 girls and 18 boys were given it in 2025 (#9,744 among girls’ names and #5,297 among boys’, #8,343 among all names counting both); 25,550 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 12,300 Americans named Jess and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (48% of everyone recorded); the median is 50 years old and half are between 38 and 65.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Jess by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Jess mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Jess is “a diminutive of the male given name Jesse.”
Also “a diminutive of the female given names Jessica and Jessamy.”
Clipping of Jesse, Jessica, or Jessamy.
/d͡ʒɛs/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Jess?
#5,297 among boys’ names, 2025
Jess fell from #3,270 in 2015 to #5,297 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 18.3 to 10.5 per million.
584 babies in 1915, the peak
Jess peaked in 1915, when 584 babies were given it (577 boys, #193 among boys’ names). The 28 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 5% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 18 | #5,297 | 0.01 |
| 2024 | 22 | #4,625 | 0.01 |
| 2023 | 25 | #4,266 | 0.01 |
| 2022 | 17 | #5,522 | 0.01 |
| 2021 | 25 | #4,160 | 0.01 |
| 2020 | 22 | #4,479 | 0.01 |
| 2019 | 23 | #4,399 | 0.01 |
| 2018 | 33 | #3,407 | 0.02 |
| 2017 | 22 | #4,525 | 0.01 |
| 2016 | 30 | #3,637 | 0.02 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 35 | #3,270 | 0.02 |
| 2014 | 32 | #3,414 | 0.02 |
| 2013 | 28 | #3,698 | 0.01 |
| 2012 | 33 | #3,327 | 0.02 |
| 2011 | 37 | #3,077 | 0.02 |
| 2010 | 32 | #3,411 | 0.02 |
| 2009 | 45 | #2,724 | 0.02 |
| 2008 | 55 | #2,360 | 0.03 |
| 2007 | 66 | #2,078 | 0.03 |
| 2006 | 60 | #2,158 | 0.03 |
| 2005 | 79 | #1,695 | 0.04 |
| 2004 | 82 | #1,596 | 0.04 |
| 2003 | 65 | #1,823 | 0.03 |
| 2002 | 70 | #1,685 | 0.04 |
| 2001 | 82 | #1,484 | 0.04 |
| 2000 | 77 | #1,555 | 0.04 |
| 1999 | 96 | #1,275 | 0.05 |
| 1998 | 91 | #1,303 | 0.05 |
| 1997 | 115 | #1,101 | 0.06 |
| 1996 | 144 | #910 | 0.08 |
| 1995 | 136 | #951 | 0.07 |
| 1994 | 150 | #880 | 0.08 |
| 1993 | 149 | #870 | 0.08 |
| 1992 | 146 | #871 | 0.07 |
| 1991 | 183 | #752 | 0.09 |
| 1990 | 214 | #692 | 0.10 |
| 1989 | 174 | #747 | 0.09 |
| 1988 | 199 | #671 | 0.10 |
| 1987 | 216 | #620 | 0.12 |
| 1986 | 241 | #573 | 0.13 |
| 1985 | 262 | #542 | 0.14 |
| 1984 | 261 | #533 | 0.14 |
| 1983 | 306 | #484 | 0.17 |
| 1982 | 337 | #462 | 0.19 |
| 1981 | 277 | #505 | 0.15 |
| 1980 | 292 | #496 | 0.16 |
| 1979 | 306 | #470 | 0.18 |
| 1978 | 346 | #425 | 0.21 |
| 1977 | 311 | #454 | 0.19 |
| 1976 | 277 | #474 | 0.18 |
| 1975 | 283 | #475 | 0.18 |
| 1974 | 310 | #455 | 0.20 |
| 1973 | 283 | #465 | 0.18 |
| 1972 | 242 | #507 | 0.15 |
| 1971 | 233 | #527 | 0.13 |
| 1970 | 190 | #590 | 0.10 |
| 1969 | 189 | #571 | 0.11 |
| 1968 | 168 | #588 | 0.10 |
| 1967 | 185 | #547 | 0.11 |
| 1966 | 200 | #540 | 0.11 |
| 1965 | 183 | #565 | 0.10 |
| 1964 | 221 | #525 | 0.11 |
| 1963 | 288 | #464 | 0.14 |
| 1962 | 293 | #466 | 0.14 |
| 1961 | 299 | #471 | 0.14 |
| 1960 | 289 | #467 | 0.14 |
| 1959 | 228 | #520 | 0.11 |
| 1958 | 254 | #489 | 0.12 |
| 1957 | 272 | #468 | 0.13 |
| 1956 | 270 | #458 | 0.13 |
| 1955 | 267 | #454 | 0.13 |
| 1954 | 245 | #463 | 0.12 |
| 1953 | 238 | #462 | 0.12 |
| 1952 | 248 | #448 | 0.13 |
| 1951 | 232 | #442 | 0.12 |
| 1950 | 193 | #481 | 0.11 |
| 1949 | 235 | #435 | 0.13 |
| 1948 | 222 | #446 | 0.13 |
| 1947 | 261 | #422 | 0.14 |
| 1946 | 220 | #429 | 0.14 |
| 1945 | 167 | #461 | 0.12 |
| 1944 | 180 | #452 | 0.13 |
| 1943 | 190 | #458 | 0.13 |
| 1942 | 190 | #450 | 0.14 |
| 1941 | 163 | #464 | 0.13 |
| 1940 | 170 | #445 | 0.15 |
| 1939 | 165 | #445 | 0.15 |
| 1938 | 151 | #472 | 0.14 |
| 1937 | 156 | #451 | 0.15 |
| 1936 | 158 | #447 | 0.15 |
| 1935 | 167 | #438 | 0.16 |
| 1934 | 166 | #439 | 0.16 |
| 1933 | 178 | #406 | 0.18 |
| 1932 | 194 | #405 | 0.19 |
| 1931 | 157 | #447 | 0.15 |
| 1930 | 207 | #406 | 0.19 |
| 1929 | 224 | #385 | 0.21 |
| 1928 | 198 | #422 | 0.18 |
| 1927 | 268 | #357 | 0.24 |
| 1926 | 239 | #378 | 0.22 |
| 1925 | 269 | #360 | 0.24 |
| 1924 | 261 | #376 | 0.23 |
| 1923 | 275 | #358 | 0.25 |
| 1922 | 248 | #381 | 0.23 |
| 1921 | 338 | #317 | 0.31 |
| 1920 | 333 | #317 | 0.31 |
| 1919 | 355 | #283 | 0.36 |
| 1918 | 387 | #271 | 0.38 |
| 1917 | 352 | #273 | 0.38 |
| 1916 | 485 | #220 | 0.54 |
| 1915 | 577 | #193 | 0.68 |
| 1914 | 258 | #271 | 0.39 |
| 1913 | 180 | #296 | 0.35 |
| 1912 | 171 | #269 | 0.40 |
| 1911 | 106 | #250 | 0.47 |
| 1910 | 103 | #231 | 0.53 |
| 1909 | 87 | #236 | 0.53 |
| 1908 | 88 | #220 | 0.57 |
| 1907 | 88 | #216 | 0.60 |
| 1906 | 67 | #238 | 0.50 |
| 1905 | 85 | #208 | 0.64 |
| 1904 | 102 | #179 | 0.80 |
| 1903 | 81 | #195 | 0.68 |
| 1902 | 86 | #193 | 0.70 |
| 1901 | 85 | #175 | 0.80 |
| 1900 | 128 | #164 | 0.85 |
| 1899 | 86 | #170 | 0.81 |
| 1898 | 108 | #158 | 0.88 |
| 1897 | 110 | #146 | 1.0 |
| 1896 | 87 | #189 | 0.73 |
| 1895 | 102 | #153 | 0.87 |
| 1894 | 104 | #147 | 0.90 |
| 1893 | 107 | #140 | 1.0 |
| 1892 | 108 | #148 | 0.88 |
| 1891 | 87 | #151 | 0.86 |
| 1890 | 114 | #128 | 1.0 |
| 1889 | 121 | #116 | 1.1 |
| 1888 | 132 | #122 | 1.1 |
| 1887 | 124 | #109 | 1.2 |
| 1886 | 140 | #111 | 1.3 |
| 1885 | 119 | #115 | 1.1 |
| 1884 | 124 | #116 | 1.1 |
| 1883 | 112 | #116 | 1.1 |
| 1882 | 122 | #118 | 1.1 |
| 1881 | 85 | #147 | 0.84 |
| 1880 | 103 | #128 | 0.93 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Jess a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 25,550 Americans recorded as Jess, 2% are girls and 98% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Jess: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Jess, and how old are they?
12,300 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 48% of the 25,550 Americans ever recorded as Jess. The median Jess alive today is 50 years old; half are between 38 and 65.
The 2020 Census counted 18,154 people named Jess (5,426 women and girls, 12,728 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 13,292 born in the U.S. The Census count is 37% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census records the name people give, which for many is the short form Jess rather than the name on their birth record, and it counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 603 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 3,190 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 3,590 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 3,340 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 1,180 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 399 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Jess born?
The states with the most babies named Jess are California, Texas and Oklahoma, with 39% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Oklahoma is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 3,724 | not ranked | 2.1× |
| Texas | 1,536 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Oklahoma | 1,140 | not ranked | 3.1× |
| Ohio | 765 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Illinois | 629 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Missouri | 623 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Tennessee | 551 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Pennsylvania | 544 | not ranked | 0.4× |
| New York | 533 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| Washington | 526 | not ranked | 1.5× |
Where Jess is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Jess is most over-represented in Oklahoma: since 1910 it was given 3.1 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Jess with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 5 names spelled alike, given to 272,895 babies since 1880, Jess is the second most given (9.4% of them). In 2025 it was given to 28 of their 2,112 babies (1.3%), again the second most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Jess
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Jess and names like it
- Compare Jess and JesusBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1910sJess peaked in 1915.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Jess since 1910.
- The top names of 1915The year the most babies were named Jess.
- The names of Generation XMost people named Jess alive today were born 1965-1980.
- Names starting with JMost given first.