Comments on: Baby Names Trend: The Jennifer Juggernaut

By: EllaMeg

EllaMeg — Sat, 04 May 2013 10:37:04 +0000

Over here in England, our popular names are a little different from the US…although films (movies) do have an influence.
For the last 15 years or so we have been engulfed in a tsunami of names ending in -y or -ie (and not just for girls). Individually, they are each very pretty – although some of the boys names can seem a bit infantile for a grown man – but there are just too many of them!

For example, in our sports club we have 64 out of 120:
Abi, Annie, Amy, Becky(4), Betty, Carly, Cassie, Clarrie, Darcy, Daisy, Ellie(2),Elsie, Esmie, Evie, Ginny, Hattie (2) from Harriet), Heidi, Holly, Izzy(3), Katie(2), Lexie, Libby(2), Livvy (from Olivia), Lucy, Maddie, Maisie, Millie, Molly, Poppy, Rosie, Ruby, Sophie(2), Tilly, Zoë
Alfie, Archie, Bailey, Billy, Charlie, Denny, Eddie, Frankie, Harry(5), Henry, Jamie, Ollie, Riley, Stanley, Toby, Tommy

By: ladydonovan

ladydonovan — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 19:02:39 +0000

As a Jennifer myself, I hope there is never another like it. It was not fun growing up as one of many, many Jennifers. From pre-K on up through high school, every best friend I ever had was also named Jennifer. I became Tall Jen or Jersey Jen. I WISH my parents had thought a bit harder before naming me the same thing as every other girl in the nursery.

By: shyshutterbug

shyshutterbug — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 07:31:47 +0000

My sister is a Jennifer. She thinks her name is groan-worthy. It’ll never be on my top 100, but I don’t despise it. (Mind you, I didn’t have to grow up with it.) Her middle name is Eve, though, which I adore.

By: LuMary

LuMary — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 19:18:17 +0000

In reply to my first comment: After a little research, I discovered that Jessica is possibly derived from Iscah (Genesis 11). Interesting.

I agree that Jennifer uniquely signified an entire generation, and we might never see another like it. Jennifer came on the scene when society was undergoing a radical shift. Jennifer was the Pepsi generation. The name shouted from the heights, “I am cool, and there is no other.” I think society would have to again experience a cataclysmic pendulous swing, and a name would have to simultaneously burst onto the scene that embodies that shift in order to achieve the status Jennifer held.

By: willaisie

willaisie — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 17:00:10 +0000

I am a Jennifer, and I have loathed my name since Kindergarten. In a tiny graduating class of 65, there were 12 of us. I don’t consider my name a name, I consider it a label.

By: ShannonDee

ShannonDee — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 05:04:16 +0000

I’ve been telling friends for years that it is safe to name their baby Emily or Sophia or Isabella because if you look at he numbers they are no where near as popular as Jennifer was. It is nice to read this article saying exactly what I already knew.

That said, I always thought Jennifer was a beautiful name and all the popular and socially successful girls were Jennifer’s. so I always associated the name with popularity.

By: EmilyVA

EmilyVA — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 06:18:33 +0000

There was a movie called Love Story where the heroine was named Jennifer.
Also my cousin is named Jennifer and may I wish to name a baby after her.

By: LuMary

LuMary — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 18:45:19 +0000

I recall that the Fonzie character on Happy Days dreamt aloud one day that if he had a baby girl, he’d name her Jennifer. I remember thinking at the time that his affection for Jennifer was too premature. But, now that I’ve read your blog, I see that he wasn’t too far off the mark. I doubt the writers of Happy Days knew that Jennifer would be #200 by 1945, though. I’ve always disliked when the writers of sitcoms or soaps take currently fashionable names for children and apply them to adult characters like Grace in Will & Grace, or give names to children that are unfashionable, such as Donna Jo, 1950s style combo-name, in Full House. The Grace character had Jewish roots, which also made Grace unlikely.

By: LuMary

LuMary — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 17:38:25 +0000

A few thoughts: First, where is Jessica (Yesica)found in the Old Testament (you’ve also stated this in one or more of your books, and I’ve been meaning to write)? I’ve been reading through the Bible annually for a number of years, and don’t recall seeing a a Hebrew variation of Jessica. I thought it was a name invented by Shakespeare, appearing in Merchant of Venice. Second, I’ve often wondered if Donovan’s Jennifer Juniper contributed to Jennifer’s meteoric rise. Jennifer also fits the names beginning with “J” trend for boys and girls born in the late 60′s and early 70′s. Being a mom’s name currently, it probably will not regain popularity any time soon, but wasn’t it still fashionable recently in California? I can see the vintage Jennie or Jenny being given popularly on its own nowadays, or as a familiar form of the recently resurrected Jane. Jennifer was my favorite name decades ago, and I never thought it would sound mundane. But like most every mega-popular name, its star, too, has dimmed.

By: Poppy528

Poppy528 — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 05:10:58 +0000

I would really really like to meet a little child named Jenson or Jensen named in honor of a Jennifer. The fact that the name was #200 in 1945 baffles me. I have never met a senior citizen named Jennifer! Jenna is exceedingly popular, but I prefer Gemma. I might get shunned from nameberry if I admit how much I dislike Guinevere or any name beginning with the “gw” sound (it’s like nails on a chalkboard, I literally shudder).