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The surname Jenny

A nickname surname, carried by 1,432 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈd͡ʒɛni/ 2 syllables Soundex J500 Also a first name

Jenny: #19,019 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#1,000Archer Jenny #19,019, 1,432 people Jenny: #19,019 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez Jenny #19,019, 1,432 people
Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Jenny is more common than 88.3% of them.

Origin

From Jen + -y, historically as a hypocoristic form of Janet, Jane, etc. but now more often used as a diminutive of Jennifer. Rarely also a nickname of Genevieve (compare Genny, pronounced the same), Eugenia or Virginia (compare Ginny). Doublet of Ivanka, Jan, Janelle, Janet, Janey, Janine, Jeanette, Jeanie, Jeannette, Jeannine, Jen, Jenna, Jessie, Jo, Jody, Juanita, Shanae, Sinead, and Vanna in derivations from Jane etc. In senses related to inanimate objects, partially derived from the generic senses of Jane and partially an informal pronunciation of engine.

Jenny is a nickname surname: from a description or nickname of an ancestor.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 1,432 people named Jenny in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 215,604 Americans. That is down 1.4% since 2000, when the Census counted 1,453.

#19,019
rank among US surnames
1,432
people in 2010
0.5
per 100,000 Americans
-1.4%
change since 2000 (was #17,771)
RankSurnamePeople1 in
#19,012McGuffey1,433215,454
#19,019Whitty1,432215,604
#19,027Euceda1,431215,755

Who is named Jenny

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

87% of people named Jenny identified as white (not Hispanic), 4.3% as Asian and Pacific Islander and 4.2% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

  • White (not Hispanic) 87%
  • Asian and Pacific Islander 4.3%
  • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 4.2%
  • Two or more races 2.2%
The Census suppresses very small shares to protect privacy; Black, Native American are not shown.

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Jennys

1 notable person on Wikidata, most written-about first

  • William Le Baron Jenney
    American architect (1832-1907)

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

  • Jenni
  • Jennie

Surnames that sound like Jenny

Jenny has the Soundex code J500, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code J500.

Questions

Where does the surname Jenny come from?
From Jen + -y, historically as a hypocoristic form of Janet, Jane, etc. but now more often used as a diminutive of Jennifer. Rarely also a nickname of Genevieve (compare Genny, pronounced the same), Eugenia or Virginia (compare Ginny). Doublet of Ivanka, Jan, Janelle, Janet, Janey, Janine,…
How common is the surname Jenny?
1,432 people in the United States had the surname Jenny in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 215,604 Americans. It ranked 19,019th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Jenny?
In the 2010 Census, 87% of people named Jenny identified as white (not Hispanic), and 4.3% as Asian and Pacific Islander.
Who is the most famous person named Jenny?
William Le Baron Jenney, American architect (1832-1907).
Where is the surname Jenny most common?
Wikidata records people named Jenny in the United States.
How do you pronounce Jenny?
Jenny is /ˈd͡ʒɛni/, 2 syllables.
What type of surname is Jenny?
Jenny is a nickname surname, from a description or nickname of an ancestor.
Is the surname Jenny getting more or less common?
Less common. 1,453 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,432 in 2010, down 1.4%.
What are other spellings of Jenny?
Jenni and Jennie.
Is Jenny also a first name?
Yes. Jenny is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.