Jenniffer
A feminine variant of Jennifer, from the Welsh Gwenhwyfar meaning "fair and smooth".
Name Census estimates that about 2,627 living Americans carry the first name Jenniffer. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jenniffer today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jenniffer births was 1972 (125 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jenniffer. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Jenniffer with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.6K
~ 1 in 130,474 Americans
Peak year
1972
125 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
2012 SSA rank
#14,156
Tracked since 1947
Census
Jenniffer in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,697 people with the first name Jenniffer, which placed it at #4,857 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
#4,857
National first-name rank
People counted
3.7K
3,697 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
50.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jenniffer
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jenniffer is Hispanic at 50.6%. The next largest groups are White (39.7%) and Black (4.0%). 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 Jenniffer 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 Jenniffer at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino50.6% · 1,872
- White39.7% · 1,469
- Black or African American4.0% · 147
- Two or more races2.9% · 106
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 83
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 20
Popularity
Jenniffer: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jenniffer from the 1940s through to the 2010s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 1,040 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
Jenniffer 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 Jenniffer during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jenniffers live
The SSA's state-level files cover 19 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Jenniffer, while Washington, Utah, Tennessee recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 65 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jenniffer
The name Jenniffer is an anglicized variant of the Hebrew name Jennie, which is a diminutive form of the name Jennifer. The name Jennifer can be traced back to the Welsh name Gwenllian or Gwenhwyfar, meaning "fair and smooth" or "white wave."
The earliest recorded use of the name Jenniffer dates back to the late 19th century, around the 1880s. It is believed to have emerged as a variant spelling of the more common name Jennifer, possibly due to regional dialects or misspellings.
While the name Jenniffer does not have a strong historical presence in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it shares its origins with the Welsh name Gwenhwyfar, which was the name of the legendary Queen Guinevere from Arthurian legends.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Jenniffer was Jenniffer Hartley (born in 1906), an American actress known for her roles in silent films and early talkies. Another early bearer of the name was Jenniffer Browning (1914-1992), an American poet and writer.
Other historical figures with the name Jenniffer include Jenniffer Graham (1927-2020), a Canadian author and journalist; Jenniffer Estrada (born 1941), a Mexican-American actress and singer; and Jenniffer Moss (born 1952), an American author and journalist.
It is worth noting that while the name Jenniffer has been used throughout history, its popularity has been relatively low compared to the more common spelling of Jennifer. The unique spelling has added a distinct touch to the name, making it stand out while still retaining its roots and meaning.
People
Jenniffer + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jenniffer 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
Jenniffer: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jenniffer?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,627 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jenniffer 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 130,474 US residents.
Is Jenniffer a common name?
We classify Jenniffer as "Rare". It ranks above 94.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,878 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jenniffer most popular?
The single biggest year for Jenniffer was 1972, when 125 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jenniffer is about 45 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jenniffer in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,697 people with the name Jenniffer, or 1.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,857 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 Jenniffer 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 Jenniffer?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jenniffer appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,699 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Jenniffer?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jenniffer is Hispanic at 50.6%. The next largest groups are White (39.7%) and Black (4.0%). 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 Jenniffer most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Jenniffer in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.6% (1,872 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 Jenniffer in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jenniffer a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jenniffer 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 Jenniffer still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jenniffer 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 Jenniffer 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 have the name Jenniffer?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Jenniffer, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.