Talk:Jessica

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[edit] Meaning of the name

I've done quite a bit of research into the name Jessica (my name) and I've never figured out why some sources list the name as meaning "wealthy." My Hebrew name is Yiskah (I'm Jewish) and all research I've done indicates that Shakespeare made up the name Jessica based on Yiskah for the Merchant of Venice--I was the one that expounded on the Hebrew back in January. Even if you make the connection with the name Jesse (Yishai), it means gift, not wealthy. Does anyone know where this other meaning come from? —This unsigned comment was added by Wub (talk • contribs) .

I don't. The connection with Yishai is tenuous at best, especially from the perspective of Hebrew scholarship. The diminutive forms in -ka come from Slavic languages into Yiddish and thence Ashkenazi names, but have no connection whatsoever to the meanings of Biblical Hebrew names...and even if they could, it would only make sense in this case if the name were Yishka*, which, clearly, it's not...even if it were, however, it would simply be a diminutive for Yishai, which would still be a boy's name. My experience with baby naming books is that their meanings are fanciful, and in some cases, pure flights of fancy with no basis in reality. If a source for the "wealthy" assertion can't be found, I recommend changing that sentence to read something like "Many baby naming books assert that the name means "wealthy", although the source for this claim is unknown." Wikipedia has enough problems with credibility because of mis- and disinformation mongering; the least we can do is insert such a reasonable caveat. Tomer^talk 07:42, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

I'm thinking "Jessica Boynton, the person who misses martin more than he misses her" doesn't belong in there.