Jessica
/ˈdʒɛsɪkə/noun
A feminine given name, famously borne by the daughter of Shylock in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice.
Did you know?Jessica is the first recorded use of the name in English, appearing in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice around 1596; its possible source is the obscure biblical figure Iscah.
Etymological Timeline
Biblical Hebrew
Hebrew
יִסְכָּה (Yiskāh)
“The obscure biblical name Iscah, traditionally associated with the idea of seeing or beholding.”
Septuagint Greek
Greek
Ieskha
“A Greek rendering of the name Iscah in the Septuagint tradition.”
Medieval Latin
Latin
Jescha
“A Latinized form of the biblical name Iscah.”
16th Century
English
Jessica
“A literary English form first recorded in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice.”
Modern English
English
Jessica
“A widely used feminine given name, especially popular in English-speaking countries during the late 20th century.”