Name meaning and origin
Jennifer
Cornish: Cornish form of Guinevere
Pronounced JEN-ih-fər; Spanish speakers often say YEH-nee-fer
Where the name comes from
- CornishCornish form of GuinevereWelsh Gwenhwyfar (Guinevere)A Cornish form of the Arthurian name, little used outside Cornwall before George Bernard Shaw gave it to the heroine of The Doctor’s Dilemma, first produced at the Royal Court Theatre on 20 November 1906. In Act I Mrs. Dubedat says: "My name is Jennifer." "A strange name." "Not in Cornwall. I am Cornish. It’s only what you call Guinevere." (Withycombe 1945, p. 78; Hanks & Hodges 1990, p. 175.)
Jennifer across traditions
- Arthurian legend. Shares its origin with Guinevere, queen of King Arthur.
- United States. Rose from the late 1930s to the top US girls’ name of 1970–1984; still SSA #16 of the 1990s (148,041 births).
Forms in other languages
Jenifer, Jenny, Jen, Gwenhwyfar, Guinevere
Jennifer in letter-number systems
Hebrew, Greek and other traditions gave every letter a number, and read meaning into the totals. These are the counts, computed; the readings are inside the Innerverse.
410
Hebrew Standard
5
Hebrew Ordinal
81
English Simple
486
English Sumerian
135
English Reverse
730
Greek Isopsephy
5
Chaldean
9
Pythagorean
Not Jennifer? Look up your own name
The Innerverse reads any name: its language of origin, its roots, who carried it, and how nine letter-number traditions count it.