Jenefer
A feminine variant of Jennifer, an English name derived from Welsh meaning "fair one".
Name Census estimates that about 297 living Americans carry the first name Jenefer. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jenefer today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jenefer births was 1972 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jenefer. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
297
~ 1 in 1,154,055 Americans
Peak year
1972
19 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
2003 SSA rank
#11,791
Tracked since 1965
Census
Jenefer in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 554 people with the first name Jenefer, which placed it at #19,235 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#19,235
National first-name rank
People counted
554
554 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
46.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jenefer
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jenefer is White at 46.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (28.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (14.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Jenefer described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Jenefer at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White46.0% · 255
- Hispanic or Latino28.5% · 158
- Asian and Pacific Islander14.6% · 81
- Black or African American7.4% · 41
- Two or more races2.3% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 6
Popularity
Jenefer: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jenefer from the 1960s through to the 2000s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 116 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jenefer by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Jenefer during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jenefers live
Origin
Meaning and history of Jenefer
The name Jenefer is a variant spelling of the feminine name Jennifer, which is derived from the Celtic Welsh name Gwenfrewi. The name originated in the 6th century AD and was the name of the Welsh princess and patron saint, St. Gwenfrewi. The name Gwenfrewi is composed of the Welsh elements "gwen" meaning fair or white, and "frewi" meaning smooth, calm, or blessed.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jenefer dates back to the 16th century. In 1566, a woman named Jenefer ap Rhys was recorded in the parish registers of St. Mary's Church in Swansea, Wales. The name was likely a variant spelling of Jennifer, which was not commonly used until the 19th century.
The name Jenefer gained some popularity in England during the 17th and 18th centuries. One notable bearer of the name was Jenefer Walters (1648-1731), an English Quaker minister and writer from Somerset. She authored several religious works and was known for her preaching and advocacy for the rights of Quakers.
In literature, the name Jenefer appeared in the 1826 novel "The Last of the Plantagenets" by William Heseltine. The novel featured a character named Jenefer de Courcy, a lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth I.
Another historical figure with the name Jenefer was Jenefer Gadsten (1881-1959), a British actress and singer from London. She performed in several West End productions and was known for her roles in Edwardian musical comedies.
A notable bearer of the name in the 20th century was Jenefer Laurie (1926-2017), an English actress and author. She appeared in numerous films and television shows, including roles in "The Night of the Hunter" and "The Avengers." Laurie also wrote several novels and memoirs, including "Living at This Period" and "Autobiography of a Novel."
While the name Jenefer is still relatively uncommon, it has maintained a presence throughout history as a variant spelling of the more popular name Jennifer. The name's origins can be traced back to the 6th century Welsh princess and saint, and it has been borne by various notable individuals across different eras and disciplines.
People
Jenefer + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jenefer as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Jenefer: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jenefer?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 297 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jenefer going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,154,055 US residents.
Is Jenefer a common name?
We classify Jenefer as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 320 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jenefer most popular?
The single biggest year for Jenefer was 1972, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jenefer is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jenefer in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 554 people with the name Jenefer, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,235 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Jenefer in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Jenefer?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jenefer appears almost entirely female. Of the 545 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Jenefer?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jenefer is White at 46.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (28.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (14.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Jenefer most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jenefer in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.0% (255 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Jenefer in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jenefer a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jenefer in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Jenefer still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jenefer in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Jenefer can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Jenefer?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Jenefer at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.