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)

My name is Jessica and every source I've ever read or heard said that the name means "wealthy." I've read it in baby books, but also in other sources, though I can't remember exactly where. I even had a framed picture with my name and its meaning,which the picture said was "wealthy." I'm surprised to learn that this meaning may not be accurate, I had never heard this before and definitely had never heard about the other meanings. Does anyone know more about this?

[edit] Minor Edit

Just removed some spam in the People section; it was a lot more cyber-bullying than informational. 24.145.221.25 04:01, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for your contribution; such acts of vandalism (or cyber-bullying) unfortunately occur frequently on Wikipedia but, thanks to editors like yourself, are typically short-lived. Next time, however, you might find it useful to view the page history and undo the vandal's entire edit. You might also wish to place a vandalism warning on the vandal's talk page to deter them from repeating their action. CounterFX 12:24, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Removed several unsourced claimes from intro

Since the intro already demonstrates the etymology of the name as English, created by Shakespeare from the Biblical name Jesca, there is no place for these assertions without a reputable source. 67.101.243.74 03:37, 7 April 2007 (UTC)