Given name & surname
Genevieve
“of the race of women; the white wave”
Genevieve is used as a given name and a surname. One French interpretation is “of the race of women; the white wave.”
Original FrenchGeneviève
Meaning & origin
What it means
One French interpretation is “of the race of women; the white wave.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is French.
How it developed
Possibly from French Geneviève, from Latin Genovefa, from Proto-Celtic *genos (“family, clan”), built from Proto-Germanic *kunją (“kin, family”) + *wībą (“woman, wife”).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1880. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Genevieve through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 125,282
- 151 boys · 125,131 girls
- Most popular year
- 1918
- 3,313 babies
- 2025
- 1,981
- #148 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +7%
- Steady
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 1,981 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 148 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 7.3% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for girls was 3,304 in 1918. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for girls with this name (193). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 51,136 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Genevieve’s family of names
In English usage, Genevieve has a nickname in Jenny. Genevieve shares a linguistic root with Geneviève. In English usage, Genevieve has a conventional equivalent in the Portuguese form Genoveva.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Genevieve has relatives in 31 languages. Lines run from its French roots to each of them.
Frenchwhere Genevieve comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 25
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Jennynickname · English
- Genediminutive · English
- Genevievariant
- Ginevravariant
- Ginebravariant
- Genovevavariant · Portuguese, Spanish
- Genavievevariant
- Genaevariant
Show 17 moreShow fewer
- Gennevievelikely variant
- Gennydiminutive · English
- Jinnydiminutive · English
- Genashort form · English
- Genshort form · English
- Ginessavariant
- Genowefavariant · Polish, csb
- Genayavariant
- Gennavariant
- Genicavariant
- Gennievariant
- Genivievevariant
- Genevevariant
- Ginervavariant
- Genoveravariant
- Geniveevariant
- Geneveevevariant
Across languages 31
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- Genevièvesource · French
- Jenavieverelated form
- Jinellerelated form
- Genevievaequivalent
- ΓενοβέφαGreek
- Zenevievarelated form
- DjenvireWalloon
- Генове́фаUkrainian, Russian
Show 23 moreShow fewer
- Женев'є́ваUkrainian
- GenovefaSlovene, Serbo-Croatian
- GenovévaSlovak, Hungarian
- ГеновеваSerbo-Croatian
- ГеновефаSerbo-Croatian
- Женевье́ваRussian
- JurvèvaOccitan
- ജെനിവീവ്Malayalam
- GenovaitėLatvian
- 주느비에브Korean
- ジュヌヴィエーヴJapanese
- GenoveffaItalian
- GenevevaIndonesian
- ΓενεβιέβηGreek
- ĜenovevaEsperanto
- JenůfaCzech
- JenovéfaCzech
- 詹妮薇芙Mandarin
- 金娜薇Mandarin
- 日南斐法Mandarin
- ГенавефаBelarusian
- ЖэнеўеваBelarusian
- GjenovefaAlbanian
People named Genevieve
- GenevievePatron saint of Paris423–502
- Genevieve NnajiNigerian actress, producer, and directorborn 1979
- G HanneliusAmerican actress and singerborn 1998
- Genevieve PadaleckiAmerican actressborn 1981
- Genevieve TobinAmerican actress (1899-1995)
- Genevieve O'ReillyIrish actress (born 1977)
- Genevieve BehrentNew Zealand rowerborn 1990
- Genevieve GauntDutch-British actressborn 1991
- Genevieve BuechnerCanadian actressborn 1991
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
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