Jennifer
Cornish Gwenhwyfar, the Guinevere of Arthurian romance, from Welsh roots for “white, fair” and “phantom.”
Popularity, 1880–2025
The Cornish form of Guinevere; already climbing fast when 1970's Love Story made its heroine a Jennifer, it then owned the top spot for a generation.
Jennifer first shows up in the national records in 1919. It has ranked among the top 100 names for American girls in every year from 1956 to 2008. It has been the single most popular name for American girls in 15 different years, first in 1970 and most recently in 1984. Its biggest year was 1972, when 63,600 newborn girls received the name, ranking it No. 1 nationally. In 2025 it ranked No. 586 for girls. All told, 1,476,540 Americans have been given the name since 1880.
Related names
Other spellings on record: Jenifer (25,573), Jeniffer (3,656), Jenniffer (2,878), Jennyfer (1,809), Jennefer (1,498), Jennafer (1,080) (total births since 1880)
Other names that share a story: Jenna, Jennie
Explore Jennifer interactively →By the decade
| Decade | Births | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1910s | 6 | No. 4251 |
| 1920s | 86 | No. 2011 |
| 1930s | 368 | No. 891 |
| 1940s | 10,685 | No. 121 |
| 1950s | 43,075 | No. 77 |
| 1960s | 164,413 | No. 3 |
| 1970s | 581,729 | No. 1 |
| 1980s | 440,914 | No. 1 |
| 1990s | 148,041 | No. 8 |
| 2000s | 63,509 | No. 26 |
| 2010s | 15,253 | No. 121 |
| 2020s | 3,624 | No. 431 |
Births and rank shown for girls, the sex more often given the name. The Social Security Administration omits name–year combinations with fewer than five births.
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Data: U.S. Social Security Administration national baby-name file, 1880–2025.