JENNIFER URBAN

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).

English, French, German, Czech, Slovak, Polish, Ukrainian, Belorussian, Hungarian (Urbán), and Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): from a medieval personal name (Latin Urbanus meaning ‘city dweller’, a derivative of urbs ‘town’, ‘city’). The name was borne by a 4th-century saint, the patron saint of vines, and by seven early popes. The Jewish surname represents an adoption of the Polish personal name.