How common is the name Jesse?

293,709 people in the United States have the first name Jesse, about 1 in 1,028. It ranks #175 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

JESSE

#175

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
293,709
About
1 in 1,028
This common or more
39.2%
Who bears it

Of the 293,709 people named Jesse, 63.4% reported their origin as White, 22.6% as Hispanic or Latino and 7.3% as Black. 96.6% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Jesse peaked in 1981, when 10,823 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1981
Births that year
10,823
In 2025*
2,074 ▼81%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 444,920 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Jesse by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1980s, when it ranked #84. The largest share of babies named Jesse, 31.5%, were born between 1981 and 1996, as millennials.

1880s#876,095
1890s#1305,522
1900s#1844,699
1910s#18316,607
1920s#20023,610
1930s#23019,194
1940s#22624,551
1950s#26726,921
1960s#30422,935
1970s#13646,019
1980s#8489,019
1990s#8577,026
2000s#16945,053
2010s#29325,666
2020s#33912,003
Before 19012.7%
Greatest Generation 1901–279%
Silent Generation 1928–458.4%
Baby boom 1946–6411%
Generation X 1965–8014.9%
Millennials 1981–9631.5%
Generation Z 1997–1216.1%
2013 and later6.4%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Jesse is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Jesse has been most common in Alaska (2.1×), Wyoming (1.7×), and Nevada (1.6×), and least common in Massachusetts (0.53×).

422,534 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Jesse

#173 Miguel · 296,001#174 Roger · 294,726#176 Evelyn · 293,621#177 Tiffany · 293,280

Spelled almost the same

8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Jesse, most common first.

#537 Jessie · 104,536#1,704 Jess · 18,154#2,811 Jessi · 8,230#2,930 Jessy · 7,736#3,593 Jessa · 5,700#9,395 Jessee · 1,480#11,508 Jessey · 1,110#20,524 Jese · 503

Also a last name

As a last name, Jesse ranks #9,121 of 156,621, with 3,442 people. See Jesse as a last name

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