Jenipher
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "causing labor, or bringing forth".
Name Census estimates that about 213 living Americans carry the first name Jenipher. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jenipher today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jenipher births was 1983 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jenipher. 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
213
~ 1 in 1,609,175 Americans
Peak year
1983
16 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2011 SSA rank
#17,988
Tracked since 1969
Census
Jenipher in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 331 people with the first name Jenipher, which placed it at #27,567 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
#27,567
National first-name rank
People counted
331
331 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
48.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jenipher
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jenipher is White at 48.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (29.0%) and Black (14.2%). 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 Jenipher 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 Jenipher at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White48.0% · 159
- Hispanic or Latino29.0% · 96
- Black or African American14.2% · 47
- Two or more races4.5% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.0% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 4
Popularity
Jenipher: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jenipher from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 77 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jenipher 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 Jenipher during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jeniphers live
Origin
Meaning and history of Jenipher
The given name Jenipher is an English variant of the Biblical name Jennifer, which has its roots in the Welsh name Gwenhwyfar. The name Gwenhwyfar is believed to have originated from the combination of two Welsh words: "gwen," meaning fair or white, and "hwyfar," meaning smooth or soft. This suggests that the name Jenipher may have initially carried connotations of beauty and gentleness.
While the exact origin of the spelling "Jenipher" is uncertain, it is likely an anglicized form of the more commonly known Jennifer. The earliest recorded use of the name Jenipher can be traced back to the late 16th century in England, where it was occasionally used as an alternative spelling for Jennifer.
In terms of historical references, the name Jennifer is closely associated with the legendary figure of Guinevere, the wife of King Arthur in Arthurian legend. Guinevere, whose name is derived from Gwenhwyfar, is depicted as a powerful and influential figure in medieval literature, often portrayed as a symbol of beauty, strength, and loyalty.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Jenipher, though it has been less common than the more traditional spelling of Jennifer. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this name was Jenipher Tyndall (c. 1590 - c. 1650), an English writer and translator who published works on theology and philosophy.
Another notable figure was Jenipher Keyt (1632 - 1706), a Quaker minister and writer from England who was known for her religious writings and advocacy for women's rights within the Quaker community. In the 19th century, Jenipher Penrose (1816 - 1901) was a British philanthropist and social reformer who worked to improve the living conditions of the poor in London.
In the field of literature, Jenipher Peterman (1837 - 1917) was an American writer and journalist who published several works of fiction and non-fiction, including a biography of Mary Todd Lincoln. Additionally, Jenipher Ingram (1904 - 1989) was a Canadian artist and painter known for her landscape and portrait paintings, many of which depicted scenes from her native Nova Scotia.
While less common than its traditional counterpart, the name Jenipher has a rich history and has been borne by individuals from diverse backgrounds, each leaving their mark on their respective fields and communities.
People
Jenipher + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jenipher 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
Jenipher: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jenipher?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 213 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jenipher 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 1,609,175 US residents.
Is Jenipher a common name?
We classify Jenipher as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 226 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jenipher most popular?
The single biggest year for Jenipher was 1983, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jenipher is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jenipher in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 331 people with the name Jenipher, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,567 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 Jenipher 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 Jenipher?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jenipher leans strongly female. 325 people counted with this name were female (98.8%), compared with 4 male bearers (1.2%). 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 Jenipher?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jenipher is White at 48.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (29.0%) and Black (14.2%). 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 Jenipher most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jenipher in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.0% (159 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 Jenipher in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jenipher a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jenipher 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 Jenipher still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jenipher 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 Jenipher 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 Jenipher?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Jenipher at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.