Jenny

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Jeny in PE Peru, BR Brazil, MX Mexico and 1 more, ג'ני in IL Israel and Jennie in IT Italy.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 10 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Jenny is also recorded as 7 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish given name943K records spelled Jenny57 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Peru, United States, Venezuela, Ecuador

  Languages: Spanish, French, Portuguese

  Also written Jënny, Jënnÿ, Jênny, Jénny, J'Enny

• a separate given name112K records spelled Jenny2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Sweden

  Also written Jenný

• Finnish given name66K records spelled Jenny7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Finland, United States, Sweden, Hungary

  Languages: Finnish, Hungarian, Estonian

  Also written Jênny, Jënny, Jënnÿ, Jénny

• Indonesian given name37K records spelled Jenny6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, Philippines, United States, Malaysia

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay, Malagasy

  Also written 'Jenny, Jénny, Jënnÿ

• Russian given name17K records spelled Jenny61 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Poland, Russia, Czechia

  Languages: Russian, Polish, Czech

  Also written Дженни, Jeannie, Женни, Jennie, Jenni

• Thai given name8.3K records spelled Jenny33 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Thailand, Laos, United States, Philippines

  Languages: Thai, Lao

  Also written เจนนี่, เจนน, Chennu, เจนนี้, เจนนี

• a separate given name6.4K records spelled Jenny11 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Peru, Norway, Sweden

  Also written Jënny, Jëñny, Jéññý, Jëññy, Jeňňý

79 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Jenny is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, A device for spinning thread from fiber onto multiple spindles (also called spinning jenny).

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Spanish, Inglés, contracción de Johanna; también hipocorístico de Jane o Eugenia.

  as a name·Diccionario etimológico de nombres propios

• In Swedish, Jenny (m.fl. former) är en engelsk smekform till → Jane. Det var ett av de mest populära namnen under 1970- och 1980-talet och är nu ett av de 30 vanligaste kvinnonamnen i Sverige. Kända svenska namnbärare är operasångerskan Jenny Lind (1820–87) och konstnären Jenny Nyström (1854–1946). I den rikssvenska almanackan 6 oktober och i den finlandssvenska 21 juli.

  as a name·Förnamn i Sverige. Kortfattat namnlexikon

• In French, Diminutive form of Jeanne; «Dieu est miséricordieux».

  as a name·Dictionnaire généalogique des prénoms

• In French, Diminutif anglais de Jeanne/Jean; utilisé comme prénom indépendant.

  as a name·Dictionnaire généalogique des prénoms

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Jenny Lindb. 1820SESwedish opera singer (1820–1887)
• Eleanor Marxb. 1855GBnot in their usual nameEnglish writer, translator, activist, and daughter of Karl Marx (1855–1898)
• Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holsteinb. 1858PLnot in their usual nameGerman Empress and Queen of Prussia (1858–1921)
• Jenny Agutterb. 1952GBBritish film and television actress (born 1952)
• Jenny Shimizub. 1967USAmerican model and actress
• Jenny Erpenbeckb. 1967DEGerman opera director and writer (born 1967)
• Charlotte Perrellib. 1974SEnot in their usual nameSwedish singer
• Jenny Mollenb. 1979USAmerican actress
• Jenny Hanb. 1980USAmerican writer (born 1980)
• Jenny Slateb. 1982USAmerican actress and comedian (born 1982)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,558 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Jenny?

We estimate roughly 263 thousand people bear Jenny (counting its spellings and scripts) across 11 countries in our records.

In which country does Jenny have the most bearers?

Jenny is most frequently recorded in the United Kingdom, where it is most often spelled jenny.

Where is Jenny most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Jenny is densest in Sweden — about 1 in 216 people — even though United Kingdom holds more of our records for it.

How common is Jenny compared with other names?

In the United Kingdom, Jenny is the 213th most common given name of 369,273 given names recorded there.

Is Jenny a male or female name?

Jenny is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Jenny mean?

Recorded meaning: from a pet form of Jdhn, Alsatian and Swiss form of the personal name Johannes (see John).