Jennings
An English surname usually understood as a patronymic from John or a related medieval pet form, with the final -s and -g reflecting older spelling and sound changes.
The #347 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 3,442 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Jennings is generally treated as a form built from medieval pet names for John, especially Jening or Jenin, with the ending -s marking “son of” or a similar relationship. Older writers also noted that the final g was often added in spelling as an excrescent letter, so forms like Jening and Jennings were felt to belong together. Another older view connected it with female names such as Jane or Jean, but the strongest traditional explanation is that it belongs with the John-name group.
History
Jennings is well established in England and later spread widely through Britain, Ireland, and the English-speaking world. 19th-century surname scholars often grouped it with John-derived surnames such as Jenkyns, Jenkins, and Johnson. In some regions, especially in older local records, spellings like Jannings and Jennison also appear.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Bardsley explicitly called the final g in Jennings “excrescent,” a term old scholars used for an extra letter that had crept into a spelling over time.
From the historical record
“Gyney." B.L.G. JENNINGS. See John, JENNISON. The son of Jane? See Female Ciiristiax Names. Tliis family have acquired, in co. Durham, the character of the Jealous Jennisons. Denham. JENOURE. The same as Jenner. JENSON. See John. JEPHSON. From Geoffrey or Jeffery.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom