Jessica
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jessica is a female given name, originally found as the name of a character in Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice. One theory of how Shakespeare created the name is that he altered Jesca, the form of the name of a daughter of Haran briefly mentioned in the book of Genesis. Though Jesca was the form of the name used in English language Bibles available to Shakespeare, the King James Version of the Bible and subsequent translations refer to this person as Iscah. [1] Jesca or Iscah is derived from the Hebrew Yiskah (יִסְכָּה), meaning "the Lord beholds".
The Hebrew root sakhah (ס.כ.ה) means "to see", so the name Yiskah, with the added yud, implies foresight or clairvoyance. There is midrash by Rashi suggesting that Yiskah is also a name for Sarah, so the meaning of this name makes sense for two reasons: people would gaze at her beauty, and she was known to be a prophetess. The name Jessica also stands for wealth.[citation needed]
Jessica can also be used as a female form of Jesse, meaning "gift".
"Jessica" was the most popular female baby name throughout the 1980s[2] and 1990s[3] in the United States. It also rose to #1 in England and Wales in 2005, dropping to #3 in 2006.[4]
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[edit] People
[edit] Entertainment
- Jessica Alba, an American actress
- Jessica Biel, an American actress
- Jessica Folcker, a Swedish singer
- Jessica Lange, an American actress
- Jessica Tandy, a British actress
- Jessica Steen, a Canadian actress
- Jessica Lee Rose, an actress best known as "lonelygirl15"
- Jessica Sutta, a dancer & singer.
- Jessica Sierra, an American singer, and American Idol 2005 finalist
- Jessica Andrews, an American country music singer
- Jessica Mauboy, an Australian musician, singer and Australian Idol finalist
- Jessica Simpson, an American singer
- Jessica Stam, a Canadian fashion model
- Jessica Boyington, Miss New Jersey 2006
- Jessica Wedge, Miss West Virginia 2006
[edit] News
- Jessica Savitch, an American news anchor
- Jessica Dubroff, a pilot trainee killed while attempting a cross-country flight in 1996
- Jessica Lal, a New Delhi model murdered at socialite party in 1999
- Jessica Lynch, an American soldier and rescued prisoner of war
- Jessica McClure, trapped in a well at a young age and dubbed "Baby Jessica" at the time
- Jessica Mitford, a British political activist
- Jessica Rowe, An Australian Television Host
[edit] Fictional characters
- Jessica Albert, from Dragon Quest VIII
- Lady Jessica, from the Dune universe
- Jessica Drew, also known as Spider-Woman
- Jessica Jones, from the Marvel Comics series Alias
- Jessica Fletcher, a novelist and the protagonist of Murder, She Wrote
- Jessica Rabbit, from Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
- Jessica Sanders, of the television series Heroes
- Jessica Tate, of the television series Soap
[edit] Songs
- "Jessica" (Allman Brothers Band song), an instrumental
- "Jessica" (Dir en grey song), a Japanese single
- "Jessica" (Adam Green song), a song about Jessica Simpson
- "Jessica" (Graham Colton Band song), a song about a girl called Jessica
[edit] Other
- Jessica (spider), an Anyphaenid sac spider
- Jessica (novel), authored by Bryce Courtenay
- Jessica (Mini Series), based on the above book
- Jessica's Law
[edit] References
- ^ Hanks, P. & Hodges, F. A Dictionary of First Names. (1990). Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-211651-7.
- ^ Most Popular 1000 Names of the 1980s. Social Security Administration (SSA), United States. Retrieved February 22, 2007.
- ^ Most Popular 1000 Names of the 1990s. Social Security Administration (SSA), United States. Retrieved February 22, 2007.
- ^ Top 100 names for baby girls in England and Wales. Office for National Statistics (ONS), United Kingdom. Retrieved February 22, 2007.
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