Jesse peaked in 1981 at rank 24 and has slid to 187 in 2024. Over 430,000 American boys have been named Jesse since the SSA began counting it. The chart shape is a textbook 1980s-coded peak followed by forty years of gradual descent. Jesse is now in the deep-trough phase that defines Alan and Brian, the period before vintage-revival energy might or might not lift it back.
The Hebrew root and the biblical figure
Jesse comes from Hebrew Yishai, with disputed etymology. The traditional gloss is "gift" or "my husband," though some scholars connect the root to a verb meaning "to be" or "to exist." In the Hebrew Bible, Jesse is the father of King David, and the "Tree of Jesse" iconography in Christian art depicts the genealogy from Jesse through David to Christ.
Notable American bearers include outlaw Jesse James (1847-1882), athlete Jesse Owens (1913-1980), and politician Jesse Jackson (born 1941). The Breaking Bad character Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul, 2008-2013) gave the name 21st-century pop-culture visibility, though the show coincided with the chart's continued decline rather than reversing it.
The unisex profile and the country-music register
Jesse charts on both the boys' and girls' SSA lists, with the boys' use historically dominant. The girls' use, sometimes spelled Jessie, has been declining. The boys' name has a strong country-music coding through bearers like Jesse Stone (Robert B. Parker novels) and the broader 1970s-1980s outlaw-country aesthetic. That country register is part of why the name peaked in 1981 alongside Jason and Brandon.
The cluster Jesse historically sat in included Jason, Jeremy, and Justin. All four names peaked between 1975 and 1990 and have been sliding since. The cluster's slide is structural: the 1980s naming aesthetic itself has not yet returned to favour.
The counter-reading
The honest reading of Jesse in 2025 is that it sits in an awkward generational gap. The name reads as parents' or uncles' generation rather than as either contemporary or vintage. Vintage revival typically requires three to four generations of distance, and Jesse is currently at two. Parents picking Jesse today often do so for personal or family reasons. The 1980s decade view shows the original peak context.