JENNIFER YING

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).

Chinese 应: from the name of the state of Ying, which existed during the Zhou dynasty (1122–221 BC). After Wu Wang established the Zhou dynasty in 1122 BC, he granted to his fourth son the state of Ying, along with the title Marquis of Ying. Descendants of the marquis later adopted the state name Ying as their surname.