Genna
Feminine
Genna uses a g for a sound that English almost always writes with a j. The soft g is a French inheritance and it is unreliable — English has gem and get, giant and give — so a name that opens with one is asking the reader to guess, and half of them will guess wrong.
How old is the name Genna?
Genna first appears in US birth records in 1934 — 91 years ago. The typical Genna alive today was born around 1991, making them about 34 years old. About 2,900 people named Genna are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Genna most popular?
Genna peaked in 1986, reaching #1047 nationally. See the whole 1986 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Genna
English received the soft g from Norman French, which used it before e and i, and never fully absorbed the rule — the Old English words kept their hard g and the French ones brought the soft one, and the two have been sitting side by side ever since with nothing on the page to tell them apart. That is why Gerald and Gertrude open differently, and why a name like this one has to be taught. Genna sits at the point where several longer names could have supplied it, and the record does not distinguish: it appears in the nineteen-thirties, rises slowly, and peaks half a century later alongside Jenna.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The meaning depends on the parent. Genevieve is Germanic and its elements are argued over; Jenna is a modern American build with no meaning at all; Regina and Eugenia both give this cut as well.
Pronouncing Genna
JEN-uh
Two syllables with the weight at the front, the g said soft. Read with a hard g it would be GHEN-uh, and readers meeting it cold will try that.
Nicknames for Genna
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1934
- Most girls named
- 1987126 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1047reached in 1986
- Change vs 2023
- 0.0%5 in 2024, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Genna in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Gemma in Italian — related form
Gennas among us
people named Genna are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Genna sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Five letters, two syllables, and a familiar sound behind an unfamiliar spelling.
- It carries two short forms with quite different characters.
- It sits comfortably in front of almost any surname.
- The g invites a hard reading, so the pronunciation has to be given more often than the spelling.
- Jenna is far commoner and will be written instead.
- There is no settled parent name, so the meaning depends on the family.
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Genna
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Gennas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,900 people named Genna are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Genna in 2025?
- Genna is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Genna with classmates?
- Genna will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More G names
The most-given names starting with G, all years combined.
Grace#38 · Gloria#654 · Gladys#3211 · Geraldine#2438 · Gail#8362 · Gertrude#6546 · Georgia#99 · Gina#2076
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Genna? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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