Humanverse

Jenifer vs Jenney

American parents have registered 25,573 Jenifers since 1880, against 509 Jenneys. Jenifer is still ahead, with 15 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Jenifer against Jenney, 1880 to 2025 0 250 500 750 1k 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Jenifer Jenney

Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.

Who was ahead

Of the 98 years in which either name was published, Jenifer for 91 years and Jenney for 7 years. The lead changed hands 3 times.

Side by side

  Jenifer Jenney
Total US births 25,573509
Most in one year 92325
Babies in 2025 15under 5
Estimated living today 24,000440
Median age today 4647
Peak year 19741979
Best rank 278th girls3,236th girls
Rank in 2025 7,133rdunranked
First recorded 19331909
Girls / boys 25,551 / 22509 / 0

A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.

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Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Jenifer and Jenney.