Jessica (name)

A painting depicting Shylock and Jessica by Maurycy Gottlieb. The first use of the name Jessica is found in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. Act 2, Scene 3: (2.3.1) "Enter Iessica and the Clowne".
Pronunciation	/ˈdʒɛsɪkə/
Gender	Female
Word/name	English derived from Hebrew
Meaning	Foresighted, "to see before"
Region of origin	Hebrew
Popularity	see popular names

Jessica (originally Iessica, also Jesica, Jessicah or Jessika) 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 : yis^ekāh), the name of a daughter of Haran briefly mentioned in the Book of Genesis 11:29. Iscah was rendered "Iesca" (Jeska) in the Matthew Bible version available in Shakespeare's day.

The original Hebrew name Yiskāh, means "foresight", or being able to see the potential in the future. The Hebrew root sakhah (ס.כ.ה) means "to see", so the name Yiskah, with the added future-tense yod, implies foresight. Iscah is the niece of Abraham.

"Jessica" was the first or second most popular female baby name in the United States from 1981-1997 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".

Sarah Jessica Parker (born 1965), American actress, model, singer and producer.