Jessamyn

History & Origin

Jessamyn is a variant of Jessamine, a word that was once simply the English name for the jasmine flower before it became a given name. Flower names flourished in the Victorian era, and Jessamine joined Rose, Violet, and Lily among them. The -myn spelling gives the name a slightly more antique, less floral look. Its most famous bearer, the Quaker writer Jessamyn West, kept the name in cultured circulation through the mid-twentieth century.

Jessamyn has never been common. Even at its faint high point around 1980 only a few dozen girls a year were given it, and it has remained a name known more from books than from playgrounds. A girl named Jessamyn then would be in her mid-forties today. Because it sits within the currently fashionable revival of vintage flower and -yn names, it is one of the more plausibly reviveable names in this group, though it is still firmly uncommon.