Jennifer (given name)

Jennifer (given name)
Jennifer, also spelled Jenifer or Jenefer, is a feminine given name, the Cornish form of Guinevere, that became popular in the English-speaking world in the 20th century.
History
"Jennifer" may mean "the fair one" (from Proto-Celtic “Windo-*sēbro ” (cognate with Old Irish síabar "a spectre, phantom, supernatural being [usually in pejorative sense]"). A Cornish form, it is cognate with the Welsh form Gwenhwyfar and with the Old Irish Findabair. Despite the name's similarity to the Old English words "jenefer," "genefer," and "jinifer," these appear to be derived from the juniper plant used to flavor the beverage.
A common first name for females in English-speaking countries during the 20th century, the name Jennifer has been in use since the 18th century. Before 1906, the name was fairly uncommon, but it gained some recognition after George Bernard Shaw used it for the main female character in The Doctor's Dilemma. However, United Kingdom government statistics (covering England and Wales) only show the name first entering the top 100 most commonly used names for baby girls in 1934 – 28 years after the play was first staged, but it thereafter rose in popularity somewhat, peaking at No. 11 in 1984. Jennifer remained in the top 100 in England and Wales until 2005. It was ranked No. 166 in 2009.
In the United States, the name Jennifer first entered the annual government-derived list of the 1,000 most commonly used names for newborn baby girls in 1938, when it ranked at No. 987. Thereafter, the name steadily gained popularity, entering the top 100 most commonly given girls names in 1956 and breaking through into the top 10 in 1966. It gained even more popularity in the 1970s, possibly due to its use in the movie Love Story. Jennifer was the single most popular name for newborn girls in the United States every year from 1970 to 1984 (until 1985 in Delaware, Illinois and Massachusetts), inclusive. It dropped out of the top 10 in the United States in 1992 and out of the top 100 in 2009. It has remained among the top 1,000 names in use for American girls and, as of 2021, was ranked in 492nd position on the Social Security Administration’s list of most used names for newborn girls. It has also been well used in other European and North American countries.
Notable people
Jenifer (born 1982), French singer and actress
Jennifer Aaker (born 1967), American social psychologist and Professor of Marketing
Jennifer Abbott (born 1965), Canadian film director
Jennifer Abel (born 1991), Canadian diver
Jennifer Abod (born 1946), American feminist activist, musician, journalist, and filmmaker
Jennifer Abruzzo, American attorney and politician
Jennifer Ackerman (born 1959), American author
Jennifer Ahern (born 1978), American epidemiologist
Jennifer Åkerman (born 1989), Swedish model, blogger and singer
Jennifer Alanyo, Ugandan physician, military officer, and politician
Jennifer Alexander (1972–2007), Canadian ballet dancer
Jennifer Lucy Allan, British writer, researcher, and radio presenter
Jennifer Allen (born 1961), American author and commentator
Jennifer Alley, American basketball coach
Jennifer Alleyn (born 1969), Canadian artist, filmmaker, writer, and photographer
Jennifer Allison (born 1966), American author
Jennifer Angus (born 1961), Canadian artist, professor, and author
Jennifer Aniston (born 1969), American actress, producer and businesswoman
Jennifer Anson (born 1977), American-Palaun judoka
Jennifer Antony, Indian actress and model
Jennifer Archer (born 1957), American author
Jennifer Arcuri (born 1985), American technology entrepreneur
Jennifer Arias (born 1987), Colombian politician
Jennifer Armintrout (born 1980), American author
Jennifer Armour (born 1985), American actress and voice artist
Jennifer Armstrong (born 1961), American children's writer
Jennifer Armstrong (born 1992), Canadian curler
Jennifer Arndt, American politician
Jennifer Arroyo (born 1975), American bassist
Jennifer Arveláez (born 1982), Venezuelan athlete
Jennifer Ashton (born 1969), American physician, author and television correspondent
Jennifer Aspen (born 1973), American actress
Jennifer Aylmer (born 1972), American operatic soprano
Jennifer Ayoo, Ugandan politician
Jennifer Azzi (born 1968), American basketball coach
Jennifer Baichwal (born 1965), Canadian documentary filmmaker, writer and producer
Jennifer Balakrishnan, American mathematician
Jennifer Margaret Barker (born 1965), Scottish-American classical composer
Jennifer Barnhart (born 1972), American actress and puppeteer
Jennifer Bartlett (1941–2022), American artist
Jennifer Batten (born 1957), American guitarist
Jennifer Baumgardner (born 1970), American writer, activist and filmmaker
Jennifer Beals (born 1963), American actress and former teen model
Jennifer Beard, American physician
Jen Beattie (born 1991), Scottish footballer
Jennifer Bendery (born 1974), American political journalist
Jenifer Benítez (born 1988), Spanish diver
Jennifer Berman, American sexual health expert, urologist, and female sexual medicine specialist
Jennifer Bernhard (born 1966), American electrical engineer
Jennifer Betit Yen (born 1986), American actress, lawyer, producer and writer
Jennifer Blake (born 1983), Canadian professional wrestler
Jennifer Blanc (born 1974), American actress
Jennifer Blow (born 1991), Australian goalball player
Jennifer Bolande (born 1957), American artist
Jennifer Botterill (born 1979), Canadian former women's hockey player
Jennifer Finney Boylan (born 1958), American author, reality television personality and transgender activist
Jennifer Brady (born 1995), American tennis player
Jenifer Branning (born 1979), American lawyer and politician
Jennifer Braun (born 1991), German singer
Jennifer Brea, American documentary filmmaker and activist
Jenifer Brening (born 1996), German singer
Jennifer Brewin, Canadian theatre creator and artistic director
Jennifer Bricker (born 1987), American acrobat and aerialist
Jennifer Brown (born 1972), Swedish singer
Jennifer Brozek (born 1970), American freelance author
Jennifer Brunner (born 1957), American attorney, politician and judge
Jennifer Burge (born 1970), American travel writer
Jennifer Byrne (born 1966), Australian Professor of Molecular Oncology at University of Sydney
Jennifer Camper (born 1957), Lebanese-American cartoonist and graphic artist
Jennifer Capriati (born 1976), American former world No. 1 tennis player
Jennifer Carnahan (born 1976), American political operative
Jennifer Carpenter (born 1979), American actress
Jennifer Carroll (born 1959), Trinidadian-American Republican politician and retired naval officer
Jennifer Carroll Foy (born 1981), American lawyer and politician
Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (born 1980), Irish Fine Gael politician
Jennifer Celotta (born 1971), American television producer, writer and director
Jennifer Paige Chambers, American musical theatre actress
Jennifer Anne Chappill (1959–2006), Australian botanist
Jennifer Charles (born 1968), American singer, poet and writer
Jennifer Childs-Roshak, American physician and executive
Jennifer Clement (born 1960), American-Mexican author
Jennifer Cody (born 1969), American actress and dancer
Jennifer Cohen (born 1976), Canadian fitness personality
Jennifer Condos, American bass guitarist
Jennifer Connelly (born 1970), American actress
Jennifer Conrad, American economist
Jennifer Cook O'Toole (born 1975), American author and public speaker
Jennifer Coolidge (born 1961), American actress
Jennifer Corday (born 1966), American singer
Jennifer Elise Cox (born 1969), American actress
Jennifer Cramblett, American woman notable for giving birth to a multiracial child after receiving supposedly white sperm
Jennifer Crittenden (born 1969), American screenwriter and producer
Jennifer Crocker, American Professor of Social Psychology at Ohio State University
Jennifer Crusie (born Jennifer Smith; 1949), American author of contemporary romance novels
Jennifer Dahlgren (born 1984), Argentine hammer thrower
Jennifer Dale (born 1956), Canadian actress and former dancer
Jennifer Damiano (born 1991), American actress and singer
Jennifer Darling (born 1946), American voice, film and television actress
Jennifer Decilveo, American record producer and songwriter
Jennifer Decker (born 1982), French actress
Jennifer Des (born 1975), Belgian photographer
Jennifer Dickson (born 1936), South African-born British photographer
Jennifer Dionne, American scientist and pioneer of nanophotonics
Jennifer A. Di Toro (born 1967), American judge
Jennifer Dixon, British chief executive of the Health Foundation
Jennifer Dodds (born 1991), Scottish curler
Jennifer Doleac, American economist
Jennifer Don (born 1984), Taiwanese-American figure skater
Jennifer Donahue, American political analyst
Jennifer Donnelly (born 1963), American young adult fiction writer
Jennifer A. Dorsey (born 1971), American attorney and jurist
Jennifer Doudna (born 1964), American biochemist
Jennifer Dougherty (born 1961), American mayoress
Jennifer Douglas (born 1964), American writer, producer and activist
Jennifer Dowd, American social scientist
Jennifer duBois (born 1983), American novelist
Jennifer Dugan, American activist and writer
Jennifer Dunn (1941–2007), American politician and engineer
Jennifer Eberhardt (born 1965), American social psychologist
Jennifer Echols, American writer of romantic fiction for young adults
Jennifer Edwards (born 1957), American actress
Jennifer Egan (born 1962), American novelist and short-story writer
Jennifer Egelryd (born 1990), Swedish football forward
Jennifer Ehle (born 1969), English-American actress
Jennifer Elie (born 1986), American professional tennis player
Jennifer Eliogu (born 1976), Nigerian actress and singer
Jennifer Elisseeff (born 1973), American biomedical engineer, ophthalmologist and academic
Jennifer Ellison (born 1983), English actress, television personality, dancer, singer and former glamour model
Jennifer Elster, American experimental artist, filmmaker, writer, photographer, musician and performer
Jennifer Elvgren, American author and journalist
Jennifer England (born 1978), American model and actress
Jennifer Esposito (born 1973), American actress and author
Jennifer Estep, American author of urban fantasy and paranormal romance novels
Jenifer Estess (1963–2003), American theatre producer
Jennifer Euston (born 1974), American casting director
Jennifer Fallon (born 1959), Australian author of fantasy and science fiction
Jennifer Faunce (born 1965), American politician and judge
Jennifer Ferrin (born 1979), American actress
Jennifer Mitchell Fetch, Canadian scientist
Jennifer Fichter (born 1984), American convicted criminal
Jennifer Fidler, American politician in Alabama
Jennifer Finch (born 1966), American musician, designer and photographer
Jennifer Finlayson-Fife, American psychologist, sexuality educator and clinical professional counsellor
Jennifer Finnigan (born 1979), Canadian actress
Jennifer Fisher, American jewellery designer
Jennifer Flackett, American film director and screenwriter
Jennifer Flavin (born 1968), American entrepreneur, businesswoman, former model and wife of Sylvester Stallone
Jennifer Flay (born 1959), New Zealand director of the Fiac
Jennifer Fleiss, co-founder of Rent the Runway
Jennifer Crystal Foley (born 1973), American actress
Jennifer Fonstad, American venture capital investor and entrepreneur
Jennifer Foster, English scholar of prehistoric and medieval archaeology
Jennifer Fox, American film producer
Jennifer Fox (born 1959), American film producer, director, writer and cinematographer
Jennifer Francis, American senior scientist at Woods Hole Research Center
Jennifer Freeman (born 1985), American actress
Jennifer Freyd (born 1957), American researcher, author, educator and public speaker
Jennifer Fry (born 1989), South African badminton player
Jennifer Garner (born 1972), American actress and producer
Jennifer George, American playwright, director, and professor
Jennifer E. Glick, American sociologist and social demographer
Jennifer Eaton Gökmen (born 1971), American writer and editor
Jennifer Gommerman, Canadian immunologist
Jennifer Granholm (born 1959), Canadian-American politician, lawyer, educator and author
Jennifer Grey (born 1960), American actress
Jennifer Hall (born 1977), American actress
Jennifer Caron Hall (born 1958), English actress, singer and journalist
Jenifer Hart (1914–2005), English academic and senior civil servant
Jennifer Hawkins (born 1983), American model, television presenter, beauty pageant titleholder, and Miss Universe 2004
Jennifer Michael Hecht (born 1965), American teacher, author, poet and historian
Jennifer M. Heemstra, Professor of Chemistry at Emory University
Jennifer Hermoso (born 1990), Spanish footballer
Jennifer Herold (born 1985), American politician
Jennifer Love Hewitt (born 1979), American actress, producer, and singer
Jennifer A. Hillman (born 1957), American lawyer and professor
Jennifer Hines, American mezzo-soprano
Jennifer Ho, American government official
Jennifer A. Hoeting, American statistician
Jennifer F. M. Horne (died 2008), Kenyan ornithologist and bioacoustician
Jennifer Hudson (born 1981), American singer and actress
Jennifer Irwin (born 1975), Canadian actress
Jennifer Jajeh, American actress and writer
Jennifer A. Johnson, American Assistant Professor of Sociology at Virginia Commonwealth University
Jennifer Jones (1919–2009), American actress and mental health advocate
Jennifer Kluska, American film director
Jennifer Lawrence (born 1990), American actress
Jennifer Lee (born 1971), American screenwriter, film director and chief creative officer and Walt Disney Animation Studios
Jennifer Jason Leigh (born 1962), American actress and producer
Jennifer Leaning, American health scholar
Jenifer Lewis (born 1957), American actress, comedian, singer and activist
Jennifer A. Lewis (born 1964), American materials scientist and engineer
Jennifer Li, neuroscientist
Jennifer Lopez (born 1969), American singer, actress, producer and dancer
Jennifer D. Luff, American historian of 20th century politics
Jennifer S. Lund (born 1940), British neuroscientist
Jennifer Macdonald, American conceptual artist
Jennifer Maia (born 1988), Brazilian professional mixed martial artist
Jennifer Maiden (born 1949), Australian poet
Jennifer Maidman (born 1958), British musician, singer, producer and actress
Jennifer Malat, American sociologist
Jennifer Manly, American neuropsychologist
Jennifer Marohasy (born 1963), Australian biologist, columnist and blogger
Jennifer Martínez (born 1971), American human rights lawyer
Jennifer McClellan (born 1972), American politician
Jennifer McFalls (born 1971), American Olympic softball player
Jennifer McGregor, American curator and arts planner
Jennifer McIntosh (born 1991), Scottish sports shooter and fantasy author
Jennifer C. McIntosh, American hydrogeologist and Professor of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences
Jennifer Mee (born 1991), better known as "Hiccup Girl", American woman with a long-lasting case of the hiccups
Jennifer Metcalfe (born 1983), English actress
Jennifer Meyer (born 1977), American jewellery designer
Jennifer Monson (born 1961), American dancer and choreographer
Jennifer Morgan (born 1971), American technology executive
Jennifer Morla (born 1955), American graphic designer
Jennifer Morrison (born 1979), American actress, director, producer and former child model
Jennifer Moss (1945–2006), English actress and singer
Jennifer Sheridan Moss, American papyrologist
Jennifer Moyle (1921–2016), British biochemist
Jennifer Murphy (born 1979), American Internet personality and former beauty pageant contestant
Jennifer Musisi, Ugandan lawyer and public administrator
Jennifer E. Nashold, American attorney
Jenifer Neils (born 1950), American classical archaeologist
Jennifer Nettles (born 1974), American singer, actress and record producer
Jennifer R. Niebyl (born 1942), Canadian professor
Jennifer A. Nielsen (born 1971), American author
Jennifer Padilla (born 1990), Colombian track and field athlete
Jennifer Pagliaro (1983–2019), American singer-songwriter
Jennifer Pan (born 1986), Vietnamese-Canadian killer
Jenifer Papararo (born 1966), Canadian curator and writer of contemporary art
Jennifer Paredes, American actress
Jennifer Radloff (born 1961), South African feminist activist
Jenifer Rajkumar (born 1982), American politician and lawyer
Jennifer Anne Reddall (born 1975), American prelate bishop
Jennifer Clyburn Reed, American businessperson and schoolteacher
Jennifer Reeser (born 1968), American poet
Jennifer Diane Reitz (born 1959), American writer, webcomic author and game designer
Jennifer Ramírez Rivero (1978–2018), Venezuelan model and businesswoman
Jennifer Rice, Canadian politician
Jenifer Rice-Genzuk Henry, American screenwriter and former singer
Jennifer Richeson (born 1972), American social psychologist
Jenifer Ringer (born 1972/1973), American ballet dancer and educator
Jennifer Risper (born 1987), American professional basketball player
Jennifer Rivera, American mezzo-soprano
Jennifer Roizen, American chemist
Jennifer Rowe (born 1955), British civil servant
Jennifer Ash Rudick (born 1963), American journalist, author, and filmmaker
Jennifer Saunders (born 1958), English actress, comedian and screenwriter
Jennifer Zhu Scott, Chinese investor
Jennifer Speake (born 1944), Canadian-British freelance writer and editor
Jennifer E. Smith (born 1980), American author of young adult novels
Jennifer Stefano, American executive and activist
Jennifer K. Stuller (born 1975), American writer, editor, popular culture critic, and historian
Jennifer Elaine Smith, behavioural ecologist and evolutionary biologist
Jennifer Anne Thomas, British physicist
Jennifer Tilly (born 1958), American-Canadian actress and poker player
Jennifer Vanderpool, American artist
Jennifer Westfeldt (born 1970), American actress, screenwriter, director and producer
Jennifer White-Johnson, American artist and activist
Jennifer Whyte, British engineer
Jenifer Widjaja (born 1986), Brazilian professional tennis player
Jennifer Winget (born 1985), Indian actress
Jenifer K. Wofford, American contemporary artist
Jennifer Worth (1935–2011), British nurse and author
Jennifer Ziegler, American author
Fictional characters
Jennifer Aldridge, character on the British soap opera, The Archers
Jennifer Armstrong, character in the British novel, Five Run Away Together
Jennifer Baylor, a protagonist in the horror film Jennifer
Jennifer Check, character in the horror comedy film, Jennifer's Body
Jennifer Parker, a character in the science fiction comedy franchise movie Back to the Future
Jennifer "Jen" Scott, the pink ranger in the Power Rangers Time Force
Jennifer Shope, one of the protagonists of Supernoobs
Jennifer, from the Pig Destroyer album Prowler In The Yard
See also
Jenna
Jenny
Society for Preventing Parents from Naming Their Children Jennifer
References
Cornish language
Celtic given names
Given names
English feminine given names
Feminine given names