Given name & surname
Jennings
“a descendant of John”
Jennings is used as a given name and a surname. One English interpretation is “a descendant of John.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One English interpretation is “a descendant of John.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is English.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1892. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Jennings through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 5,192
- 4,878 boys · 314 girls
- Most popular year
- 2021
- 116 babies
- 2025
- 101
- #1,841 for boys · #7,283 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +21%
- Rising
Boys, girls and both
The balance of boys and girls given this name has shifted over time. Recent births are 79% boys.
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 86 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 1,841 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 17.6% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 113 in 1926. It also appeared in 15 birth records for girls in 2025. In 2025, North Carolina had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (9). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 2,225 as a first name in 2020; 86,271 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.
Jennings’s family of names
Jennings has a related form in Jenning. Jennings has a related form in Jennyng. Jennings has a related form in Jennyngs.
The ring: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 3
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
People named Jennings
- Jennings RandolphAmerican politician (1902–1998)
- Jennings LangAmerican actor (1915-1996)
- Jennings FranciskovicAmerican volleyball playerborn 1995
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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