Jena

Where Jena comes from

The dictionaries list Jena as a given name — a female given name of rare usage, variant of Gina — but don't trace where it came from. The record below is what the SSA data shows.

  • 2 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1900
    First appearance
    #1,932 among girls, 5 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1984
    Jena Malone born
    American actress
  3. 1985
    Peak, #371
    614 babies named Jena — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1987
    Jena Lee born
    French singer
  5. 1995
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #702.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name of rare usage, variant of Gina.
Namesakes
  • Jena Malone · American actress, born 1984
  • Jena Lee · French singer, born 1987
  • Jena Hansen · Danish sailor, born 1988
  • Jena Irene · singer, born 1996
  • Jena Friedman · American comedian, actress, writer and director, born 1983

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.