Jessica (given name)

Jessica (originally Iessica, also Jesica, Jesika, Jessicah, Jessika, or Jessikah) is a female given name.
The oldest written record of the name with its current spelling is found as the name of the Shakespearean character Jessica, from the play "The Merchant of Venice". The name may have been an Anglicisation of the biblical Iscah (from the Hebrew: יִסְכָּה : yisekāh), the name of a daughter of Haran briefly mentioned in the Book of Genesis . Iscah was rendered "Iesca" (Jeska) in the Matthew Bible version available in Shakespeare's day.
"Jessica" was the first- or second-most popular female baby name in the United States from 1981 to 1998 before falling out of the Top 20 in 2004. It also rose to #1 in England and Wales in 2005, dropping to #3 in 2006. Common nicknames of the name Jessica include "Jess" and "Jessie".