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Jennette
How to Pronounce Jennette
Pronounced juh-NET /dʒəˈnɛt/High
Meaning: Jennette is a spelling of Jeanette, the French diminutive of Jeanne, the feminine of Jean (John), from Hebrew Yochanan, 'God is gracious.' The double-n spelling anglicized the French name; the meaning is inherited straight from its Jeanne/John parent.Medium
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
Jennette is an English respelling of Jeanette, itself the French pet form of Jeanne — the feminine of Jean, or John, from Hebrew Yochanan, 'God is gracious.' The -ette ending marks it as a diminutive, a 'little Jeanne,' and English families softened the French Jeanette into Jennette on the page.
It has a long, low American life: in use from the eighteen-eighties, it edged up to a modest high around 1981 before settling back to rarity. A woman named Jennette at that peak is middle-aged today, and the spelling still reads as a warmer, folksier cousin of the tidy Jeanette.
Variations
Nicknames
Famous Bearers
- ★Jennette McCurdy (1992–present)American actress and author, known for playing Sam on Nickelodeon's iCarly, popularizing the Jennette spelling.
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Frequently Asked
What does the name Jennette mean?
Jennette is a form of Jeanette, a little Jeanne (John), meaning 'God is gracious'; it carries that meaning.
How do you pronounce Jennette?
It's said juh-NET /dʒəˈnɛt/ — two syllables, stress on the second.
Is Jennette a boy or girl name?
Jennette is used as a girl's name, a feminine form of John by way of Jeanne.
How popular is Jennette?
Jennette has always been an uncommon spelling variant, most visible in the mid-twentieth century, and it remains rare today.