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Jenny

girl name
Origin
English
Syllables
2
Peak era
1970s
Today
▬ Steady

Meaning

diminutive of Jennifer/Jane

The story

Read the story of Jennifer →

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The formal names behind Jenny

Jenny is an established short form of this name.

Jennifer · Welsh origin · white wave, fair one

Why we verify every short-form relationship →

Jenny in song

867-5309/Jenny
Tommy Tutone (1981)
A power-pop hook built out of seven digits, and people have been dialing them ever since. Despite the legend about a number scrawled on a wall, co-writer Alex Call says he simply made up both Jenny and the phone number sitting in his backyard.

Jenny from the Block
Jennifer Lopez (2002)
Lopez pushing back on her own fame using the name she grew up with in the Bronx, and the hook that has followed her ever since.

Popularity, 1890–2024

1890speak 1970s2020s

Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Jenny peaked in the 1970s.

See popularity in Brazil

Popularity in Brazil

1,594 people · the #6,010 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 125,000 · median age 32

1930s1940s1950s1960s1970s1980s1990s2000s2010s

Among people named Jenny living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1990s than in any other decade.

The census also counted 49 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.

Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022

When you meet Jenny

People given the name Jenny in the United States span the generations: the middle half were born anywhere from 1960 to 1999. Age is the one thing the name won't tell you.

Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.

Names that fit alongside Jenny

Ginny Ella Elly Penny Audrey Allie

The Jenny deep dive

Written for you · $1.99 →

Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Jenny 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 Jenny fits with your family’s names and surname.

Both reports, explained →

Where Jenny travels

Korean American · A familiar English choice in Korean American families.

Vietnamese American · A common refugee-generation English choice in Vietnamese American families.

Keep exploring

Korean American baby names · Vietnamese American baby names

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