Jenna (English)

Where does "Jenna" come from?

The name Jenna originated as a Cornish diminutive form of the name Jennifer. It belongs to a vast linguistic family of variants, sharing deep etymological roots with names like Jan, Jeanette, and Jenny.

Full etymology tree

• Jenna (English), 'A female given name, variant of Jenny.'
  • derived Jennifer (English), 'A female given name from Cornish.'
    • inherited Gwynnever (Middle Cornish)
      • inherited *Gwɨnnohuɨβar (Proto-Brythonic), 'a female given name'

Direct ancestors

• Ivanka (English)
• Jan (English)
• Janelle (English)
• Janet (English)
• Janey (English)
• Janine (English)
• Jeanette (English)
• Jeanie (English)

Updated June 2026

Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris