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Genifer
How to Pronounce Genifer
Pronounced JEN-ih-fer /ˈdʒɛn.ɪ.fər/Low
Meaning: Genifer is a respelling of Jennifer, which comes from the Welsh Gwenhwyfar, understood as 'white, fair phantom' or 'fair and smooth.' Gwenhwyfar is also the origin of Guinevere, the queen of Arthurian legend, so Genifer carries that same shining, storied heritage in a simplified spelling.Low
Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data
U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880–present). Pink marker = peak year.
SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.
History & Origin
Genifer is simply Jennifer with a softer spelling, and both go back to the Welsh Gwenhwyfar, 'fair phantom,' the name behind Arthurian Guinevere. It rode the enormous mid-century wave of Jennifer, and we trace it plainly to that Welsh root.
Genifer appeared in the United States from about 1966 into the nineteen-nineties, peaking around 1971 at only about fifteen girls a year - a rare spelling just as Jennifer was cresting. A girl named Genifer at that peak would be in her mid-fifties today.
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Frequently Asked
What does the name Genifer mean?
It is a respelling of Jennifer, from the Welsh Gwenhwyfar meaning 'white, fair phantom,' the same name behind Guinevere.
How do you pronounce Genifer?
It is said JEN-ih-fer /ˈdʒɛn.ɪ.fər/ - three syllables, stress on the first.
Is Genifer a boy or girl name?
Genifer is used as a girl's name.
How popular is Genifer?
It was always rare as a spelling in the United States, given to only about fifteen girls a year at its peak in the early nineteen-seventies.