Jenneth
Feminine form of the French name Jennette, a diminutive of Jane.
Name Census estimates that about 24 living Americans carry the first name Jenneth. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jenneth today is around 74 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jenneth births was 1960 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jenneth. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Jenneth is about 74 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Jenneths were born before 1962.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Jenneth. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
24
~ 1 in 14,281,431 Americans
Peak year
1960
10 babies that year
Average age
74
years old
1962 SSA rank
#6,975
Tracked since 1942
Census
Jenneth in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 243 people with the first name Jenneth, which placed it at #33,857 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
#33,857
National first-name rank
People counted
243
243 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
49.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jenneth
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jenneth is White at 49.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (26.3%) and Black (13.6%). 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 Jenneth 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 Jenneth at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.0% · 119
- Asian and Pacific Islander26.3% · 64
- Black or African American13.6% · 33
- Hispanic or Latino9.5% · 23
- Two or more races1.6% · 4
Popularity
Jenneth: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jenneth from the 1940s through to the 1960s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 26 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1940s peak, Jenneth remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jenneth 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 Jenneth during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jenneth
The name Jenneth is derived from the Old English name Jennet, which itself is a diminutive form of the name Jane. The name Jane has its origins in the Hebrew name Yohanan, meaning "God is gracious." The name Jenneth is believed to have originated in England during the Middle Ages.
The earliest recorded use of the name Jenneth can be traced back to the 13th century. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Jenneth Wycliffe, who lived in the late 14th century and was the sister of the famous English theologian and Bible translator, John Wycliffe.
In the 15th century, the name Jenneth was mentioned in several historical records and literary works. For instance, the name appears in the court records of King Henry VI, where a woman named Jenneth Smythe is listed as a servant in the royal household.
During the Renaissance period, the name Jenneth gained popularity among the English nobility. One notable bearer of the name was Jenneth Seymour, who lived in the 16th century and was a distant relative of the famous Queen Jane Seymour, the third wife of King Henry VIII.
In the 17th century, the name Jenneth was featured in several plays and poems by renowned English writers. The poet John Donne, for example, mentioned a character named Jenneth in his work "The Canonization."
Another famous bearer of the name was Jenneth Fawcett, an English writer and feminist who lived from 1847 to 1929. She was a prominent advocate for women's rights and played a significant role in the women's suffrage movement in the United Kingdom.
Throughout history, the name Jenneth has been relatively uncommon, but it has been carried by several notable individuals from various walks of life, including scholars, artists, and activists. While it may not be as widely known as some other names, Jenneth has a rich historical heritage and has made its mark in the annals of English culture and society.
People
Jenneth + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jenneth 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
Jenneth: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jenneth?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 24 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jenneth 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 14,281,431 US residents.
Is Jenneth a common name?
We classify Jenneth as "Very Rare". It ranks above 43% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 41 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jenneth most popular?
The single biggest year for Jenneth was 1960, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jenneth is about 74 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jenneth in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 243 people with the name Jenneth, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #33,857 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 Jenneth 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 Jenneth?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jenneth leans strongly female. 209 people counted with this name were female (85.3%), compared with 36 male bearers (14.7%). 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 Jenneth?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jenneth is White at 49.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (26.3%) and Black (13.6%). 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 Jenneth most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jenneth in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.0% (119 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 Jenneth in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jenneth a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jenneth 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 Jenneth still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jenneth 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 Jenneth 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 share the name Jenneth?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.