I love the name [name]Jennifer[/name], but is it too dated? I think the nicknames [name]Jenn[/name] and [name]Jenny[/name] are really adorable but [name]Jennifer[/name] has been so overused in the past, I’m afraid to even consider using it now! I’m not having kids for a while, so I don’t know if that factors in. What do you guys think? Does anyone else like [name]Jennifer[/name]? Thanks!
The only [name]Jennifer[/name] I’ve ever met is my age (so, teenaged.) It suits her just fine and doesn’t look dated. She doesn’t shorten it to anything as far as I know. I think it’s a great name, it has lovely flow and sounds really approachable.
I think it is very dated to the 80s… I know so many Jennifers/[name]Jens[/name]/Jennys my age (19) and older. If you want something more fresh, there’s always [name]Genevieve[/name] with the nickname [name]Gen[/name]/[name]Genny[/name]. Or [name]Geneva[/name], etc.
I love this name, but it’s definitely dated. I much prefer [name]Juniper[/name].
There are too many Jennifers! Look at how many famous ones there are. It is super popular! I do like [name]Jenn[/name] names though, but I would chose any of the others over [name]Jennifer[/name]. I used to babysit a girl named Jennilyn. It’s like [name]Jenna[/name]-[name]Lynn[/name], just say it faster…
A co-worker has a daughter named Jensyn. Those are a bit trendy, but I like them better than [name]Jennifer[/name]. [name]Jennifer[/name] is a tad boring.
My favorite “[name]Jenn[/name]” name is Geneve. (French for [name]Geneva[/name]) It appeals to me cuz I like [name]Jenn[/name] and I love [name]Neve[/name]! 
To me it doesn’t matter if a name is classed as ‘dated’. I don’t understand why a perfectly normal name should be avoided just because it happened to be super popular in a certain time period. What’s the big deal? O_o No one’s going to look at a baby [name]Jennifer[/name] and think: ‘Why aren’t you in your twenties? People called [name]Jennifer[/name] are all over the age of twenty.’ They’d most likely think: ‘Aww, pretty name. I know lots of nice people called [name]Jenny[/name].’
[name]Jennifer[/name] is a lovely name, there’s nothing wrong with it.
Well, it does strike me as a name from the 80’s, however just because it was very popular then doesn’t make it unusable, there’s some names I really fancy from that era as well. I had considered the name [name]Jennifer[/name] myself as a middle name for my daughter because I liked the initials RJ, but since her first name was most popular back in the 1910’s-1920’s I went for something a bit more old fashioned to compliment it.
In short, I see nothing wrong with naming your daughter [name]Jennifer[/name], it’s a really lovely name and it’s not like she is going to have five other [name]Jennifer[/name]'s in her class, not in the sea of [name]Brianna[/name]'s and [name]Adalyn[/name]'s.
I love [name]Jenny[/name]/[name]Jennie[/name]/[name]Gen[/name] as a nickname but not [name]Jennifer[/name] especially.
My favourites are: [name]Imogen[/name] and [name]Genevieve[/name]. Historically (pre-20th C) [name]Jenny[/name]/[name]Jennie[/name] was often derived from [name]Janie[/name] and [name]Jane[/name], but I think nowadays a [name]Jane[/name] called [name]Jenny[/name] would confused the bejeezus out of people. I believe the famous opera singer [name]Jenny[/name] [name]Lind[/name] (the one [name]Anderson[/name] wrote Ugly Duckling for) was a [name]Johanna[/name].
I think [name]Jenny[/name] is adorable. But [name]Jennifer[/name] doesn’t do much for me.
I do feel that it’s pretty dated, but I know an adorable little girl named [name]Jennifer[/name], and I don’t really even associate it as being dated on her. She wears it so well. I love the [name]Jen[/name]/[name]Jenny[/name] part, but not the “nifer” ending, it seems sort of conniving and underhanded, a la [name]Lucifer[/name]. It is a nice name, though, and I think if you won’t be using it for at least a decade, it will seem less dated by then.
I agree with @stripedsocks, I love [name]Imogen[/name] and [name]Genevieve[/name] as ways to get to [name]Jen[/name]/[name]Jenny[/name]/[name]Gen[/name].
Good luck!
Well while it is not to my taste I think it is usable and it doesn’t give me the dated vibes like [name]Lauren[/name] and [name]Laura[/name].
rollo
Honestly, I think my ‘name palate’ is starting to get jaded, or come full circle. At this point, [name]Jennifer[/name] on a new baby sounds better than [name]Juniper[/name] or [name]Genevieve[/name] or [name]Juno[/name], all of which scream ‘2012 hipster’ or something. I actually think it’ll be less dated when the kid grows up, because it’s so 1980s.
Or maybe I’m just losing it. 
I think that it is definitely a little dated, but that might serve as a good thing. If you had a little [name]Jennifer[/name] in a few years, she would be one of the only [name]Jennifer[/name]'s in her class. I think that picking a name from an off-era isn’t a bad thing. I am [name]Elaine[/name], and when I was in school it seemed like a very dated name but I still really liked it because 1. I thought it was pretty (like [name]Jennifer[/name]!) and 2. I was literally the only [name]Elaine[/name] I knew. I say, if you love it, go for it!!
To me [name]Jennifer[/name] is pretty, [name]Jenny[/name] is cute, [name]Jen[/name] I am neutral towards.
I know plenty of Jennys& [name]Jens[/name] but only one who goes by [name]Jennifer[/name].
I figure today you’d easier find a dozen Genevieves before one baby [name]Jennifer[/name]…and I prefer [name]Jennifer[/name]!
I think a lot of “dated” names are nicer than today’s popular names & feel fresh on a little one. I dount any [name]Jenny[/name] of today questionwould have to be [name]Jenny[/name] D. or [name]Jenny[/name] S…that would be [name]Bella[/name] & [name]Mason[/name] these days!
The worst a [name]Jen[/name] would get, “oh, that’s my mom’s name”
I say use it!
I see it as dated. Or maybe it’s more that I grew up in a time when it was mega-popular. (Six Jennifers around my age in my department at my last job) So it may just be I overdosed on it and it sounds fresh to others’ ears. It’s a nice sounding name and I do love the nickname [name]Jenny[/name].
[name]Genevieve[/name]
[name]Juniper[/name]
[name]Gwendolyn[/name]
[name]Guinevere[/name]
[name]Ginevra[/name]
[name]Genoveffa[/name]
Also I agree with [name]Imogen[/name]
I think it’s a completely normal name, and acceptable for use now. I don’t think anyone is going to look at her and think her name is dated. If anything people may be relieved that it’s not another trendy name!
[name]Jennifer[/name] was a 50’s name in Australia and it’s my 50 something old music teachers name but I know one who would be 16 and another who is 13. 2 go by [name]Jenny[/name]. I agree no one is going to say [name]Jennifer[/name] thats my “grandma/mums/sisters/friends” name and there all insert age. [name]Jennifer[/name] is a nice enough name but it was number 2 in the 50’s in Australia so it could be ready for a comeback at least in Australia.
I was born in 1980 and by the time I was in high school I was so sick of hearing this name and still pretty much hate it. That being said, there’s nothing objectively wrong with it and I agree that at some point a previously super-popular name falls into disuse enough to sound fresh again on a new baby. I think the fact that it’s “dated” is kind of what makes it acceptable. We’re past the height of popularity, past the point of backlash and on to a point where it’s usable again.
While it is dated, I really like [name]Jennifer[/name]!
My name is Jennifer, and I love it. I was born in the late 70s, and I grew up with a lot of other Jennifers. Also, there is a reason it has been so popular–it’s a great name!
Why I love my name:
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- The combination of J/F/R in one word is really linguistically interesting to me;
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- the sound of the name is completely unique;
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- it’s got loads of great nn (I never had one until i was an adult, when people insisted on calling my Jen; only a couple have ever called me Jenny, and I know one Jennifer who went by “Fer.”);
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- it’s really the kind of name that would be a Nameberry name if it hadn’t been so popular;
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- it’s got a great history, as the original names it is derived from include Gwenfrewi, Gwenhwyvar, and Guinevere;
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- it can be fit into almost any style.
If it weren’t my name, I would want to use it on a child! It took me a really long time to make peace with the name b/c of it’s popularity, but I finally decided I loved it (partly because of the original Beyond Jennifer and Jason book, which I don’t think was the intention!
As others have said, the pendulum has swung back a bit, and allowed some names to slip out of their timeline–while I think names like Linda, Brenda, Joyce, Carol, Renee, Ashley, Christy, Jodi, Lisa, and Amy are all pretty tied to the 50s-80s, I don’t think Jennifer is at all. It’s such a classic name like Elizabeth or Catherine because of its history, but it sounds fresher to me than either of those because of its linguistic pattern and interesting combination of letters, and while it surged in the 70s and 80s, historically, it’s always seemed to be a more unique or offbeat choice in comparison to many other names that have been around for centuries.
Edit to add: I don’t really think the name Juniper is a good substitute for this name; the /p/ makes a hard sound to me, whereas the /f/ softens the name and gives it a more “homey quilt” kind of feel. If you like the harder sound, that’s fine, but because of that I don’t really think that Juniper has the same flow/style as Jennifer.
I also have never heard of anyone who relates the name to Lucifer before. o.O