Jesse
Jesse is ranked 187th among boys in 2024 (1,980 births). Its best rank was 26th, in 1882, 1887.
- Rank in 2024
- #187up 15 from 2023
- Births in 2024
- 1,9800.12% of boys
- Peak year
- 198110,444 births
- Best rank
- #26first in 1882
- Since 1880
- 442,811people given the name
The story in the numbers
430,392 boys have been named Jesse in the United States since 1880, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1981, with 10,444 births — 0.58% of all boys recorded that year.
It is holding steady: its share of births has moved by less than half in either direction over ten years (rank 172 → 187).
Half of everyone given the name was born by 1982, and the 1980s alone account for 20%. It has spent 145 of 145 years in the top 1,000, 92 of them in the top 100.
It is overwhelmingly a boy’s name: 12,419 girls have also been given it, 2.8% of the total.
Rank among boys, year by year
By decade
| Decade | boys named Jesse | |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 6,003 | |
| 1890s | 5,396 | |
| 1900s | 4,559 | |
| 1910s | 16,293 | |
| 1920s | 23,170 | |
| 1930s | 18,929 | |
| 1940s | 24,336 | |
| 1950s | 26,654 | |
| 1960s | 22,605 | |
| 1970s | 44,892 | |
| 1980s | 85,915 | |
| 1990s | 73,790 | |
| 2000s | 43,389 | |
| 2010s | 24,893 | |
| 2020s | 9,568 |
In 1981, its biggest year
Jesse was the 37th most given boy’s name that year. The top five boys’ names of 1981 were Michael, Christopher, Matthew, Jason and David. See all of 1981.
Names that rose and fell with Jesse
Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.
- Rosspeak 1985
- Hanspeak 1970
- Marshalpeak 1999
- Samuelpeak 2001
- Chaunceypeak 1981
- Joshpeak 1979
- Joesephpeak 1998
- Samualpeak 1997
What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.