Jess

Used for both boys and girlsStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Jess: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Jess: Recorded since 1990, it reached #355 in 2020, and it stood at #544 in 2025.

4registrars recorded it
59times a registrar ranked it
36years from first to last
#355highest recorded position
16groupings it qualifies for

Region

Falling

among girls in England and Wales · 1996–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#891
1997	#1287
1998	#1259
1999	#1216
2000	#993
2001	#1107
2002	#1372
2003	#876
2004	#840
2005	#769
2006	#976
2007	#866
2008	#1034
2009	#1596
2010	#1389
2011	#1903
2012	#1720
2013	#1774
2014	#1966
2015	#1865
2016	#1834
2017	#2090
2018	#2674
2019	#2458
2020	#3447
2021	#4634
2022	#5669
2024	#5891

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

FallingEngland and Wales · Girls

Recorded in official data among girls in Republic of Ireland in 12 of the 36 years from 1990 to 2025.

In 2024: #407 among girls in Northern Ireland, #541 among girls in Scotland, #736 among girls in Republic of Ireland, #5891 among girls in England and Wales.

Official data from 4 national registrars across 4 regions, 1990–2025 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1990
First recorded at #517 among girls in Republic of Ireland in 1990 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
Republic of Ireland · Girls
Highest recorded1990–2025
Highest recorded position: #355 among girls in Republic of Ireland, in 2020 (recorded 1990–2025).
Republic of Ireland · Girls
Most recent2025
Most recently recorded at #544 among girls in Republic of Ireland, in 2025.
Republic of Ireland · Girls

Jess appears in 4 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Girls, with 28 ranked years and 493 births registered; the earliest is Republic of Ireland · Girls, from 1990.

Jess across 4 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Jess's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
Republic of Ireland · Girls	#517 (1990)	#355 (2020)	#544 (2025)	12 of 36	65 (1990–2025)	11 (2020)
England and Wales · Girls	#891 (1996)	#769 (2005)	#5891 (2024)	28 of 29	493 (1996–2024)	37 (2005)
England and Wales · Boys	#976 (1996)	#869 (1999)	#3416 (2012)	16 of 17	153 (1996–2012)	18 (1999)
Northern Ireland · Girls	#434 (2018)	#407 (2024)	#407 (2024)	2 of 7	6 (2018–2024)	3 (2018)

Jess by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Jess in England and Wales · Girls, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	69	4 of 10	17
2000sbusiest	262	10 of 10	26
2010s	146	10 of 10	15
2020s	16	4 of 10	4

Across England and Wales · Girls, the 2000s were its busiest decade, averaging 26 births a year.

See the names England and Waleshas recorded the most births with →

Jess appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Official popularity data is available for 4 regions, from 1990 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #355 in Republic of Ireland in 2020.

Jess's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2024	England and Wales	female	#5891	3	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	female	#5669	3	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	female	#4634	4	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	female	#3447	6	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	female	#2458	10	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	female	#2674	9	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	female	#2090	13	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	female	#1834	16	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	female	#1865	15	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	female	#1966	14	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	female	#1774	16	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	female	#1720	17	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	male	#3416	5	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	female	#1903	14	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	male	#3300	5	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	female	#1389	22	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	female	#1596	17	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	male	#3744	4	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	female	#1034	29	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	male	#3687	4	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	female	#866	36	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	male	#2211	8	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	female	#976	29	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	male	#2538	6	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	female	#769	37	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	male	#2174	7	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	female	#840	32	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	male	#1347	13	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	female	#876	29	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	male	#1771	8	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	female	#1372	14	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	male	#2636	4	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	female	#1107	18	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	male	#1027	15	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	female	#993	21	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	male	#918	17	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	female	#1216	16	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	male	#869	18	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	female	#1259	15	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	male	#1000	14	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	female	#1287	14	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	male	#1174	11	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	female	#891	24	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	male	#976	14	High	Verified
2024	Northern Ireland	female	#407	3	High	Verified
2018	Northern Ireland	female	#434	3	High	Verified
2025	Republic of Ireland	female	#544	6	High	Verified
2024	Republic of Ireland	female	#736	4	High	Verified
2023	Republic of Ireland	female	#555	6	High	Verified
2022	Republic of Ireland	female	#502	7	High	Verified
2021	Republic of Ireland	female	#517	7	High	Verified
2020	Republic of Ireland	female	#355	11	High	Verified
2019	Republic of Ireland	female	#716	4	High	Verified
2017	Republic of Ireland	female	#873	3	High	Verified
2016	Republic of Ireland	female	#661	5	High	Verified
2008	Republic of Ireland	female	#862	3	High	Verified
2007	Republic of Ireland	female	#549	6	High	Verified
1990	Republic of Ireland	female	#517	3	High	Verified
2024	Scotland	female	#541	5	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Northern Ireland hub — collected by NISRA
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland
Scotland hub — collected by National Records of Scotland

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 4 registrars between 1990 and 2025, ranked in 31 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #355, first reached in 2020.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 37 births, registered in England and Wales in 2005.

1 registrar publishes it in more than one category list, holding a place in each for at least five years — an observation about those lists rather than about the name.

Its record falls into 2 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 5 years.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1996, and 34 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Jeslyn · #3031, 11y
Jesper · #53, 63y
Jessa · #734, 9y
Jesse · #18, 45y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 4 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Ameera · #354, 30y
Henri · #353, 30y
Marianna · #353, 31y
Melisa · #353, 34y

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1990 and 1999.

Akram · #355, 30y
Alia · #355, 30y
Harleigh · #355, 29y
Laney · #355, 27y

Jess was ranked #355 in Republic of Ireland · Girls in 2020. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Jess and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,573 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Jess without appearing here.

Jess moved ahead of

Tyler Compare
In 2011 they stood at #1903 and #1665 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2012 that had become #1720 and #2521.
Graeme Compare
In 2002 they stood at #2636 and #2636 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2003 that had become #1771 and #2189.
Anita Compare
In 2021 they stood at #873 and #734 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 2022 that had become #502 and #905.
Jacqueline Compare
In 2021 they stood at #862 and #501 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 2022 that had become #502 and #905.

Moved ahead of Jess

Conan Compare
In 2007 they stood at #2211 and #3095 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2008 that had become #3687 and #1511.
Diane Compare
In 2020 they stood at #3447 and #3899 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2021 that had become #4634 and #2499.
Gustav Compare
In 2007 they stood at #2211 and #2435 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2008 that had become #3687 and #1828.
Markus Compare
In 2001 they stood at #1027 and #1202 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2002 that had become #2636 and #805.

Moved the opposite way to Jess

Ada Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Jess went from #891 to #5891 while Ada went from #2683 to #40.
Alma Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Jess went from #891 to #5891 while Alma went from #2096 to #234.
Alyssa Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Jess went from #891 to #5891 while Alyssa went from #783 to #285.
Amalie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Jess went from #891 to #5891 while Amalie went from #2096 to #1128.

Moved the same way as Jess

Abigail Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Jess went from #891 to #5891 and Abigail from #21 to #154.
Aimee Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Jess went from #891 to #5891 and Aimee from #70 to #1603.
Aisling Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Jess went from #891 to #5891 and Aisling from #440 to #2000.
Alex Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Jess went from #891 to #5891 and Alex from #161 to #2253.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Official popularity data is available for 4 regions, from 1990 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #355 in Republic of Ireland in 2020. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Jess

Jess at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Jess across 4 official records

Jess by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Jess appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Jess

Jess and the names beside it

Jess moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Jess

Moved the opposite way to Jess

Moved the same way as Jess

Jess at a glance

Jess across 4 official records

Jess by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Jess appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Jess

Jess and the names beside it

Jess moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Jess

Moved the opposite way to Jess

Moved the same way as Jess