Jennifer
diminutives: Jen, Jenny
related names: Guenivere, Gwynhwyfar, Gaynor
|
|
||||
Jennifer |
|||||
| FOR REAL: Before the 20th century, Jennifer was simply an obscure Cornish name. It is the Cornish (spoken in Cornwall in SW England) form of the Welsh name Gwynhwyfar. This name comes to us in English as Guenivere. It is made from the Welsh elements gwyn meaning "fair; white; blessed" and hwyfar meaning "smooth; soft." In the 1970s this name took off like wildfire in the USA (it became popular in England several decades earlier). Many baby name books from this era list it as meaning "white wave." This is inaccurate and I'm not sure I know where that comes from (I get emails all the time from Jennifers who insist their name means "white wave." I have several books with this meaning listed-- it probably started in one book and then all the others used that one as a reference). | |||||
diminutives: Jen, Jenny related names: Guenivere, Gwynhwyfar, Gaynor |
|||||
|
|
||||