The name Jessica was created by William Shakespeare for a character in his play The Merchant of Venice (1596). It’s likely based off of the Hebrew name Yiska (יִ ְס ָכּה), meaning "to behold". It started to gain traction as a given name in the middle of the 20th century and by the end of the century, had risen to be one of the top ranked names for girls. It maintained its popularity throughout the early 2000s and 2010s but has since begun to fall.