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ETYMOLOGY:

Jennifer (pronounced JEN-a-fer) derives from the Welsh name Guinevere, in turn from Gwenhwyvar, gwen meaning "fair" and wyf meaning "yielding". Jennifer or Jenniver was a Cornish form of the name.

Another suggested source is the Old English for Juniper or Juniper Tree; jenefer, genefer or jinifer.

ORIGIN & HISTORY:

The name Jennifer was practically unknown outside of Cornwall until the twentieth Century when the plays "The Doctor's Dilemma" by Bernard Shaw (1906) and Noel Coward's "The Young Idea" (1921), which both featured a character with the name Jennifer, pushed the variant into popular use.

POPULARITY:

During the 1970s Jennifer was the most popular name for new born baby girls in the United States, it has since declined in popularity at a steady rate but still ranks in at number 51 in the popularity stakes.

Jennifer is also popular in Canada (British Columbia), Scotland and Sweden.

In England and Wales the name failed to make the top hundred most popular names in 2005, it had ranked in as the 88th most popular name in the previous year.

NAMESAKES:

Jennifer was the code name for a project to recover the sunken Soviet submarine K-129. The project was undertaken by the United states Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 1974.

Jennifer was the name of a 1978 horror film starring Lisa Pelikan, the storyline is similar to the better known Carrie.

Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine is the name of a song by the popular American rock band, The Killers.

Jennifer Government was the title of the 2003 novel by Max Barry, the novel's plot was concerned with how power is distributed in a dystopian alternate reality and a popular game NationStates inspired by the book has been set up on line allowing users to create a nation and make decisions as to how it is run.

FAMOUS PERSONS:

Jennifer Ehle (born December 29th, 1969), an award winning actress best known for her role in the acclaimed and popular 1995 BBC mini-series of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

Jennifer Aniston (born February 11th, 1969), an award winning actress best known for her role as Rachel Green in the phenomenally popular comedy show Friends.

Jenifer Yal Dadouche-Bartoli (born November 15th 1982), a pop singer who has had a series of hit singles. She is most often referred to just by her given name, Jenifer.

NAME VARIANTS:

Jennifer has 21 variant forms: Genna, Genni, Gennie, Gennifer, Geniffer, Gennivre, Genny, Jen, Jena, Jenefer, Jeni, Jenifer, Jeniffer, Jenn, Jenna, Jennee, Jenni, Jennica, Jennie, Jenniver and Jenny.

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