Jennifer
Jennifer was the 586th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 501 babies. Its best year was 1970, when it ranked 1st; the most babies were born in 1972 (63,600). Over the last ten years it has moved down 335 places. More babies were named Jennifer in the 1970s than in any other decade.
Meaning Cornish form of Guinevere ('white phantom') · Cornish, Celtic
Say it JEN-ih-fer /ˈdʒɛnɪfər/
- Rank in 2025
- #586 girls, down 155 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 501girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 197263,600 babies
- Total since 1880
- 1,476,540babies recorded
What does the name Jennifer mean?
Jennifer is the Cornish form of Guinevere, King Arthur's queen, as Wiktionary and the Random House dictionary note. DMNES derives Guinevere from Celtic *windo, "white, fair", and *sēbro, "phantom, spirit". Jennifer was mainly a Cornish name until the 20th century, then became the most common girls' name in the US during the 1970s.
*windo (Proto-Celtic, “white, fair”)*sēbro (Proto-Celtic, “phantom, spirit”)
How sure is this? Probable. The Guinevere link is clear; the Celtic elements are reconstructed.
Related names: Guinevere, Jenny, Jen, Gwenhwyfar.
See also: Celtic names, names that mean a color.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Jennifer', Wiktionary (Wikimedia Foundation)
- Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources (ed. S. L. Uckelman), Edition 2023 no. 1, s.v. 'Guinevere', DMNES, Durham University
- Dictionary.com Unabridged (based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary), with Collins English Dictionary, s.v. 'Jennifer', Dictionary.com / Random House / HarperCollins
Nicknames for Jennifer
The usual nicknames for Jennifer are Jen, Jenny and Jenn. Some parents skip the long form: for every 100 girls named Jennifer in the last five years, 27 were named Jenny, against 10 twenty years earlier.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Girls, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jen | Traditional | — | — |
| Jenny · also for Jane | Traditional | #1,503 | 792 |
| Jenn | Traditional | — | — |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Jennifers go by each one.
Jennifer popularity since 1880
A few boys are given the name too: 4,837 since 1946.
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #586 | 501 |
| 2020 | #431 | 713 |
| 2010 | #121 | 2,622 |
| 2000 | #26 | 9,390 |
| 1990 | #8 | 22,236 |
| 1980 | #1 | 58,374 |
| 1970 | #1 | 46,150 |
| 1960 | #61 | 7,243 |
| 1950 | #118 | 2,802 |
| 1940 | #689 | 102 |
| 1930 | #2,063 | 17 |
| 1920 | #4,172 | 7 |
| 1910 | — | — |
| 1900 | — | — |
| 1890 | — | — |
| 1880 | — | — |
How popular is Jennifer, counting every spelling?
Jennifer is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #578 for girls in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #586 for Jennifer on its own. Together these spellings went to 522 girls in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jennifer | 501 | #586 | 2,911 |
| Jenifer | 15 | #7,282 | 85 |
| Jennyfer | 6 | #13,947 | 43 |
Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.
How many kids will share the name Jennifer?
501 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Jennifer (0.14 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Jennifer born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 17 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Jennifer.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Jennifer?
About 1,385,800 people born in the US named Jennifer are alive today, with a median age of 47; half are between 41 and 53. That makes Jennifer mostly worn by adults in their thirties to fifties.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Jennifer by state
How common Jennifer was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in Maryland (1.9×), Nevada (1.5×). It is least common, relative to the national rate, in Oregon, Arkansas, Connecticut.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Jennifer: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Jennifer, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Jennifer · Sibling names for Jennifer
Questions about the name Jennifer
What does Jennifer mean?
Jennifer means “Cornish form of Guinevere ('white phantom')” (Cornish, Celtic origin). Certainty: probable.
How popular is the name Jennifer?
Jennifer was the 586th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 501 babies. Its best year was 1970, when it ranked 1st; the most babies were born in 1972 (63,600). Over the last ten years it has moved down 335 places. More babies were named Jennifer in the 1970s than in any other decade.
Is Jennifer a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Jennifer in the US.
Where is Jennifer most popular?
In 2021–2025, Jennifer was most common in Maryland (0.67 per 1,000 girls), followed by Alaska and Nevada.