Name of the Week

 

A surname that is becoming increasingly popular in the front spot thanks to 
namesake Jenson Button. With many popular elements to the name, 
this one is set to storm the top 100 in the next few years. 
Watch this space! 

 

Origin:

Jenson is an English surname meaning literally "son of Jen," a medieval short form of the Old French Jehan. Jehan was one of the many renderings of Johannes (better known as John), the Latinised form of the Hebrew name Yochanan meaning "Yahweh has favoured" or "Yahweh has been gracious"  The similar Jensen "son of Jens" is a cognate Scandinavian surname, with Jens being the traditional Scandinavian pet-form of Johannes.

Usage:

Prior to the turn-of-the-21st century, Jenson had extremely rare usage in Britain as a first name. As a family surname, it did find occasional usage in the 19th century, but very rarely. Johnson, or even the Scandinavian Jens, was much more frequently used.  Between 1978 and 1998 Jenson was given to fewer than 40 boys, while Jensen was given to fewer than 60.  The real story behind Jenson as a first name lies with British racing driver Jenson Button. His name actually derives from the Scandinavian Jensen, as his father, 70s Rallycross driver John Button, named him after Danish friend and racing rival Erling Jensen. The spelling was altered from Jensen to Jenson to avoid confusion with Jensen Motors. The influence of this one particular man on the name can clearly been seen in the statistics. Jenson Button first appeared in the media in 1999, and was greatly hyped as Britain's youngest ever Formula One driver before his first race in the Australian Grand Prix in 2000. In 1999 in England and Wales 11 boys (#1199) were named Jensen and 7 (#1664) were named Jenson. In 2000, the year of Button's debut, Jensen ranked #415 (52 births) and Jenson #273 (99 births). Both names have had an upward curve since: 2004: Jenson #165 (262 births), Jensen #277 (114 births) 2007: Jenson #195 (244 births), Jensen #291 (132 births) 2009: Jenson #143 (417 births), Jensen #245 (179 births) 2010: Jenson #96   (686 births), Jensen #203 (251 births)  Individually, Jenson ranked #70 in Wales, and #100 in England. In 2011 in Scotland, Jenson ranked #289 (12 births), a minimal rise from #309 (11 births) in 2010; Jensen ranked #304 (11 births), having ranked #410 (6 births) in 2010. In Northern Ireland, Jenson ranked #173 and Jensen #230 in 2010.  It is not surprising that the name has seen such success. It has many different facets that make it appealing: the popular surname sound, reminiscent of favourites such as Harrison, Cameron, Jordan; the fashionable J that currently dominates the top 30 (Jack, Joshua, James, Joseph, Jacob, Jayden, Jake); and two-syllable bell-like tone. The name is likely to continue to rise.

Famous Bearers:

* Nicolas Jenson (1420–1480), French engraver, pioneer printer and typographer. * Adolf Jensen (1837–1879) and his brother Gustav Jensen (1843–1895) were German musicians and composers.  * Jenson Button (b.1980), successful British Formula One racing driver. He was the World Drivers' Champion in 2009.  Other: * Jensen Motors was a British manufacturer of sports cars (1934—1976).

Possible diminutives:

Jay, Jens, Jon, Joss

Sibling Names:

Lana     Darcy     Lacey     Neve      Tegan     Alexa  Ellis      Lucas     Aaron     Finley     Leighton     Gunnar

Name Lists:

Lively Lads

 

If you like Jenson you may also like:   Jory, Fletcher, Harvey, Tyler, Austin, Lewis, Jago, Lennon, Rowan, Ethan

 

This post was revised August 2012.