WHAT’S IN A NAME?

The world is lousy with Jennifers. Don’t believe me? Guaranteed you have a good friend, or a buddy at work, or a neighbor, or an ex-girlfriend, or a dogwalker named Jennifer (or Jen or Jenn or Jenny or Jenni, but NEVER Jeniffer or Genifer).

And probably not just one either -- more like five! Take me, for example. When I was in college, my roommate for all four years was also named Jen. And by the time we were seniors, FOUR out of the EIGHT girls living in our house were named Jen (that’s 50% Jen!).

Anyway, my name’s pervasiveness within my age group isn’t just a gut feeling. It’s a fact. Jennifer first broke the top 20 most popular baby names in 1965. In its Glory Days, it ranked as the #1 girl’s name for FIFTEEN STRAIGHT YEARS -- from 1970 - 1984. In 1985, it slipped to #3 -- which was the beginning of its merciful descent.

The Reign of Jennifer makes it the 2nd most popular girl’s name in the last 100 YEARS. (In case you are curious, Mary takes the crown as the 1st most popular from 1909 – 1946 and again from 1953 – 1961.) So… who cares (other than the obvious 8 gazillion Jennifers out there)?

TV!

It’s no surprise that TV loves Jen just as much as Jen loves TV. How many of these famous Jennifers did YOU watch?