Grumpy Old Geeks Topics Origin of the name Jessica Topic Origin of the name Jessica 2 mentions in 1 episode The hosts discuss a claim about the name’s use by Shakespeare and its later popularity. Mentions 56: Some Things in this Podcast are True May 2, 2014 1:28:35 The name Jessica was actually created by Shakespeare 1:29:13 It was not commonly used as a given name until the middle of the 20th century.