Meaning and history
From a Cornish form of the Welsh name Gwenhwyfar (see Guinevere), Jennifer became common outside Cornwall only in the early 20th century after appearing in George Bernard Shaw’s The Doctor’s Dilemma (1906). It barely ranked in the United until the late 1930s, then grew steadily in popularity and rose rapidly in the early 1970s, becoming the most popular girls’ name in America from 1970 to 1984, though it was less common in the United Kingdom. Notable bearers include the American actresses Jennifer Aniston (1969-), Jennifer Garner (1972-), and Jennifer Lawrence (1990-), and the singer and actress Jennifer Lopez (1969-).
20062006: 5,268 births, rank #51
2007: 4,653 births, rank #64
2008: 3,797 births, rank #84
2009: 2,987 births, rank #110
2010: 2,622 births, rank #121
20112011: 2,281 births, rank #134
2012: 1,928 births, rank #164
2013: 1,692 births, rank #192
2014: 1,521 births, rank #222
2015: 1,286 births, rank #251
20162016: 1,162 births, rank #272
2017: 1,052 births, rank #309
2018: 921 births, rank #344
2019: 788 births, rank #390
2020: 713 births, rank #431
20212021: 638 births, rank #493
2022: 630 births, rank #501
2023: 586 births, rank #520
2024: 556 births, rank #544
20252025: 501 births, rank #586
Jennifer climbed to #1 for girls from 1970 through 1984. It remains prominent at #586 in 2025. Its highest annual birth count came in 1972, with 63,600 births.