JENNIFER WARE

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: 1. topographic name for someone who lived by a dam or weir on a river (Old English wær, wer), or a habitational name from a place named with this word, such as Ware in Hertfordshire. 2. nickname for a cautious person, from Middle English war(e) ‘wary’, ‘prudent’ (Old English (ge)wær).