(female) Of Celtic (Arthurian) origin, a Cornish form of the name of King Arthur's unfaithful Guinevere. At the beginning of the 20th century, the name was merely a Cornish curiosity, but since then it has become enormously popular all over the English-speaking world, partly due to the influence of the film star Jennifer Jones (b. 1919 as Phyllis Isley). Another factor in its rise was probably Bernard Shaw's use of it for the character of Jennifer Dubedat in The Doctor's Dilemma (1905). See also Gaynor. More recent well-known bearers include the American tennis player Jennifer Capriati (b. 1976) and the British comedienne Jennifer Saunders (b. 1958).
Variants: Jenifer, Jenefer, Jennefer, Jannifer.
Short form: Jen.
Pet form: Jenny.
English: from Middle English more ‘moor’, ‘marsh’, ‘fen’, ‘area of uncultivated land’ (Old English mōr), hence a topographic name for someone who lived in such a place or a habitational name from any of the various places named with this word, as for example Moore in Cheshire or More in Shropshire.
English: from Old French more ‘Moor’ (Latin maurus). The Latin term denoted a native of northwestern Africa, but in medieval England the word came to be used informally as a nickname for any swarthy or dark-skinned person.
English: from a personal name (Latin Maurus ‘Moor’). This name was borne by various early Christian saints. The personal name was introduced to England by the Normans, but it was never as popular in England as it was on the Continent.
Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Mórdha ‘descendant of Mórdha’, a byname meaning ‘great’, ‘proud’, or ‘stately’.
Scottish: see Muir.
Welsh: from Welsh mawr ‘big’, applied as a nickname or distinguishing epithet.
