Jennifer
/ˈdʒɛnɪfər/noun
A female given name.
Did you know?Jennifer was popularized in English largely through a medieval Cornish form of Guinevere, and the name’s older Celtic elements are often glossed as meaning something like “white phantom” or “fair spirit.”
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Celtic
PCelt
*windo-
“white, fair, blessed”
Old Welsh
OW
Gwenhwyfar
“a female name, traditionally associated with a fair or white spirit”
Medieval Cornish
Cornish
Jennifer
“a local form of the name, used as a female personal name”
16th Century
English
Jennifer
“an English given name, influenced by Cornish and Welsh forms”
20th Century
English
Jennifer
“a very common female given name in the English-speaking world”
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