# Jennings (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/jennings/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

An English surname originating as a patronymic.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 89,700 |
| US rank (2010) | 347 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 3,442 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.1% (87,038 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈd͡ʒɛnɪŋz/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From Jenning + -s.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Jennings in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 71% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 23% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.5% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.7% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.7% |
| Two or more races | 2.3% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Jennings in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia and the Kingdom of Great Britain.

## People named Jennings

- Waylon Jennings, American country musician (1937–2002)
- Brandon Jennings, American basketball player (born 1989)
- Alex Jennings, British actor
- Jazz Jennings, American transgender Internet personality
- Claudia Jennings, American actress and model (1949-1979)
- Gary Jennings, American novelist (1928–1999)
- Will Jennings, American songwriter (1944–2024)
- Terrence Jennings, American taekwondo practitioner
- Ken Jennings, American game show contestant, host, and writer
- Lynn Jennings, American long-distance runner
- Edward Jennings, American coxswain
- Shyla Jennings, American pornographic actress

and 18 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Jenning, Jimenez, Jiminez, Jimenes.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.