Given name & surname
Jena
“our little bird”
Jena is used as a given name and a surname. One Arabic interpretation is “our little bird.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Arabic interpretation is “our little bird.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Arabic.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1900. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Jena through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 13,248
- 7 boys · 13,241 girls
- Most popular year
- 1986
- 619 babies
- 2025
- 23
- #5,474 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −31%
- Easing
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 23 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 5,474 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 31.1% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for girls was 619 in 1986. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 12,289 as a first name in 2020; 573 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Jena’s family of names
In English usage, Jena has a related form in Gina. Jena has a related form in Jenah.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 2
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 2
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Jena
- Jena MaloneAmerican actressborn 1984
- Jena LeeFrench singerborn 1987
- Jena HansenDanish sailorborn 1988
- Jena Irene Asciuttosingerborn 1996
- Jena FriedmanAmerican comedian, actress, writer and directorborn 1983
- Jena PowellAmerican politicianborn 1993
- Jena SimsAmerican actressborn 1988
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
Similar names
If you love Jena, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Yesenia
“resembling a flower”
>99% girls
Dalia
“dahlia” · “one who is gentle”
>99% girls
Guadalupe
“from the valley of wolves” · “from the river of the wolf”
13% boys · 87% girls
Yasmin
“resembling the jasmine flower”
>99% girls
Maïssa
“twinkling star”
>99% girls
Maÿssa
“twinkling star”
>99% girls
Oamra
“daughter of the moon”
>99% girls
Asfour
“small bird; sparrow”
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