How Many People Are Named Jess?
An estimated 13,254 people in the United States have the first name Jess. It is predominantly male (98.1%). The average bearer is 53 years old, and Jess peaked in popularity in 1915 with 584 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Jess as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Jess paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Jess is overwhelmingly male, 477 female births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
13,254
About 1 in 25,860 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Male
98.1% confidence
Average Age
53
years old
Peak Year
1915
584 births
Total Registered
25,522
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Jess
Jess is predominantly male (98.1%), though 477 female births have been registered. It functions as a unisex name for a small percentage of bearers.
Jess as a male name
Ranked #4,616 in 2024
22 male births in 2024
Peak: 1915 (577 births)
Jess as a female name
Ranked #12,684 in 2024
7 female births in 2024
Peak: 1991 (16 births)
Jess: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Jess span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1910s, when 3,006 babies were registered. Jess has declined significantly from its peak in the 1910s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Jess by Decade
How has Jess tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 1,198 | 1,182 | 16 | |
| 1890s | 1,036 | 1,013 | 23 | |
| 1900s | 909 | 897 | 12 | |
| 1910s | 3,006 | 2,974 | 32 | |
| 1920s | 2,689 | 2,653 | 36 | |
| 1930s | 1,699 | 1,699 | 0 | |
| 1940s | 2,003 | 1,998 | 5 | |
| 1950s | 2,452 | 2,447 | 5 | |
| 1960s | 2,320 | 2,315 | 5 | |
| 1970s | 2,813 | 2,781 | 32 | |
| 1980s | 2,629 | 2,565 | 64 | |
| 1990s | 1,513 | 1,424 | 89 | |
| 2000s | 774 | 681 | 93 | |
| 2010s | 334 | 305 | 29 | |
| 2020s | 147 | 111 | 36 | |
Jess by State
Birth registrations for Jess span all 43 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, Texas, Oklahoma. The lowest are in Connecticut, Maryland, Nevada. On average, about 378 Jesss were registered per state.
Jess + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Jess as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Jess
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
Jess: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jess?
We estimate approximately 13,254 people named Jess are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 25,860 Americans share this first name.
Is Jess a common name?
Jess is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 98.1% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 25,522 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Jess most popular?
Jess reached peak popularity in 1915, when 584 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Jess is approximately 53 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Jess a male name?
Jess is predominantly male. 98.1% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Jess Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Jess Smith, Jess Johnson, Jess Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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