Jennifer
The story
Jennifer began as the Cornish form of Gwenhwyfar, the Welsh name the world knows as Guinevere, King Arthur's queen. For centuries it barely left Cornwall, until George Bernard Shaw gave it to a character in his 1906 play The Doctor's Dilemma and a wider public noticed. In America it grew slowly from the late 1930s, jumped in 1944, the year Jennifer Jones won her Oscar, and was already accelerating when Love Story reached theaters in 1970 with Ali MacGraw as Jenny. That same year Jennifer took the number one spot and did not let go for fifteen years, the most popular girls' name in the country from 1970 through 1984. Guinevere's name waited centuries for a crown of its own; when it finally came, it was American.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Jennifer peaked in the 1980s.
Popularity in Brazil
39,762 people · the #670 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 5,102 · median age 20
Among people named Jennifer living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2000s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 842 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Jennifer
Most people given the name Jennifer in the United States were born between 1970 and 1989. The Jennifer you meet today is most often in her 40s or 50s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Jennifer deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Jennifer truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Jennifer fits with your family’s names and surname.
Where Jennifer travels
Filipino American · fair one, white wave; a common English pick for Filipino American daughters
Chinese American · fair one, white wave; ubiquitous among 1970s-80s ABC girls
Keep exploring
Nicknames for Jennifer · English-Brazilian names · Filipino American baby names · Chinese American baby names
Does Jennifer fit YOUR family?
nametree reads your family’s names and finds the ones that belong. Free, private, no ads.
Add Jennifer to your family’s tree →