William Shakespeare invented the name Jessica.

Arts & Culture

W illiam Shakespeare wrote dozens of plays — at least 36, by most counts — and coined nearly as many phrases that are still in use. We wouldn't call things we don't understand "Greek to me" were it not for Julius Caesar, wouldn't refer to jealousy as a "green-eyed monster" without Othello, and wouldn't find ourselves in a "brave new world" without The Tempest, among other examples. Nor would we have the name Jessica, which the Bard invented around 1597 while writing The Merchant of Venice.

Thought by some to have been derived from Iscah, the name of Abraham's niece in the Bible, the name Jessica first appeared as the daughter of Shakespeare's villainous moneylender Shylock. She's no fan of him, however, and she absconds with a chest of her father's gold while eloping with Lorenzo against Shylock's wishes. This betrayal motivates Shylock's vengeful insistence on exacting a pound of flesh from a Venetian merchant in lieu of the money he owes him.

Jessica was among the most popular names for baby girls throughout the 1970s and '80s in the U.S., though its popularity in America has waned in the decades since. In England and Wales, however, Jessica was the most popular name for baby girls as recently as 2005.

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By the Numbers

Sonnets written by Shakespeare

154

Monarchs Shakespeare performed in front of (Queen Elizabeth I and King James I)

Did you know?

Shakespeare may have died on his birthday.

No one's sure exactly when Shakespeare was born, though his birthday is usually celebrated on April 23, 1564. The year isn't in debate, but the exact day is. His baptism was recorded as having taken place on Wednesday, April 26, at Holy Trinity Church in his hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon; since baptisms usually took place within three days of a child's birth, the 23rd is the agreed-upon date. If that's true, it means the Bard died on his birthday 52 years later, in 1616.