girl's name
Jenny
JEN-ee
- Origin English
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 5
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 108,239
Northern Ireland
#547
2019 births
Jenny began as a pet form of Jane, not Jennifer — the two attached to each other only in the twentieth century, and Jennifer was almost unknown outside Cornwall before 1900. Its strongest market is Ireland, at 1116th.
- Jenny is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 1977, when 2,700 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 23,348 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Jenny over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 167 |
| 1890s | 237 |
| 1900s | 306 |
| 1910s | 979 |
| 1920s | 1,992 |
| 1930s | 1,989 |
| 1940s | 3,689 |
| 1950s | 8,781 |
| 1960s | 11,011 |
| 1970s | 23,016 |
| 1980s | 19,851 |
| 1990s | 10,173 |
| 2000s | 6,686 |
| 2010s | 2,884 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 945 |
What Jenny means
Jenny means God is gracious if taken from Jane, or white phantom if taken from Jennifer. The two parent names are unrelated and share no element at all.
Where Jenny comes from
Jenny is a medieval English pet form of Jane, from the Hebrew Yochanan by way of Johanna — God is gracious. Jennifer is a completely separate name, the Cornish form of Guinevere, from the Welsh Gwenhwyfar: gwen, white or fair, joined to an element meaning a phantom or spirit. The two converged only when Jennifer spread out of Cornwall in the twentieth century. A jenny is also a female donkey or bird, and the spinning jenny may or may not be the same word.
Jenny in use
Jenny peaked in the United States in 1977, when 2,700 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 1116th in Ireland on 3 births, 1511th in the United States on 142, 2133rd in England and Wales on 14 and 2310th in France on 15, across 108,239 lifetime births in five of the seven markets we track.
How popular is Jenny?
In 2025, Jenny was given to 142 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Jenny is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Jenny
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Jenny also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Jenny over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Jenny in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Jenny
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Jenny — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Jenny
What does the name Jenny mean?
God is gracious through Jane, or white phantom through Jennifer. The two are unrelated.
Is Jenny short for Jennifer?
Only since the twentieth century. It began as a pet form of Jane.
What does Jennifer mean?
The Cornish Guinevere — gwen, white or fair, joined to an element meaning a phantom.
How popular is Jenny?
1511th in the United States, down from a 1977 peak of 2,688 births.
Is Jenny a girl's or a boy's name?
Jenny is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Jenny?
Jenny has 2 syllables.
Is Jenny a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Jenny currently ranks #933 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.