Jenny

Where Jenny comes from

From Jen + -y, historically as a hypochoristic form of Janet, Jane, etc. but now more often used as a diminutive of Jennifer. Rarely also a nickname of Genevieve (compare Genny, pronounced the same), Eugenia or Virginia (compare Ginny). Doublet of Ivanka, Jan, Janelle, Janet, Janey, Janine, Jeanette, Jeanie, Jeannette, Jeannine, Jen, Jenna, Jessie, Jo, Jody, Juanita, Shanae, Sinead, and Vanna in derivations from Jane etc. In senses related to inanimate objects, partially derived from the generic senses of Jane and partially an informal pronunciation of engine.
— Wiktionary's entry for Jenny
  • 2 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1820
    Jenny Lind born
    Swedish opera singer
  2. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #466 among girls — 13 babies in the first year on record.
  3. 1977
    Peak, #108
    2,688 babies named Jenny — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1982
    Jenny Slate born
    American actress and comedian
  5. 1989
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #206.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name.
Namesakes
  • Jenny Slate · American actress and comedian, born 1982
  • Jenny Lind · Swedish opera singer, 1820–1887
  • Jenny Erpenbeck · German opera director and writer, born 1967
  • Jenny Agutter · British film and television actress, born 1952
  • Jenny von Westphalen · German theatre critic and political activist, 1814–1881

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.