Juniper (given name)

Juniper

Gender	Both
Other names
Related names	Guinevere, Jennifer , Genevieve, Ginevra

The given name is either in reference to the English common name for the juniper tree or berry, or in reference to a derivation of the Welsh name Guinevere. Juniper has historically been used as both a boys and girls name. Juniper has never been on the top 1000 list of given names in the United States, but is an increasingly popular girls name likely due to the popularity of a wide assortment of well-known fictional works, including the cartoon series The Adventures of Juniper Lee, the movie Benny and Joon (where the Joon character was short for Juniper), and the novel Juniper, Gentian and Rosemary.

The Juniper tree's name is derived from the Latin word juniperus. In Latin, juniperus is combination of the word junio, which means young, and parere, to produce, hence youth producing, or evergreen. The names Genefer, Jenefer and Jinifer (all old English variants for juniper),. Ginepro (Italian for Juniper), Ginevra (Italian variant form of Juniper), and Ginny are other names that also refer to the Juniper tree.

Geneviève: French name, Sainte Geneviève, patron saint of Paris. In Latin Genovefa for Germanic Kenowefa (like English kin and wife ) no link with genièvre "juniper" in French, which is not a female first name. Confusion only in English and no connection with the following Guinevere, that is Guenièvre in French.

The British name Guinevere is a variant Old French spelling of Gwenhwyfar, which in Welsh is a combination of the word gwen (mod. gwyn) which means "white" or "fair" and hwyfar which means a "spirit" or "fairy". This is also the same origin for a name that is similar sounding to Juniper: Jennifer.

Because the Latin Juniperus family of names are the same or very similar sounding to the Welsh Guinevere family of names, it is very difficult to determine, for names that begin with gin-, jen-, or jun-, which family they ultimately originated with.

Common nicknames of Juniper

• Ginny: The name for the spirit gin is an English derivation of the Dutch word for Juniper: genever. This nickname is either in reference to gin, or similarly, when something is said to taste like Juniper berries, it is said to be "ginny" tasting.

• Jenny: More so in England, where in some places it is pronounced "jenny-per."

• June or Joon: The most common nickname for Juniper.

• Junie

• Nip or Nipper: While the origin of the usage of "nip" to refer to a drink or a glass of an alcoholic beverage actually comes from the rare term nipperkin [small measure], a folk etymology has that it originally referred to a nip of gin, with the "nip" being a shortening of Juniper.

Symbolism of the name Juniper

Ginevra de' Benci
File:Ginevra de Benci.jpg
Artist	Leonardo da Vinci
Year	circa 1476
Type	oil on wood
Location	National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

• Succor: In the Bible's Old Testament, a juniper tree with an angelic presence sheltered the prophet Elijah from Queen Jezebel's pursuit. Similarly a later apocryphal biblical tale tells of how the infant Jesus and his parents were hidden from King Herod's soldiers by a juniper during their flight into Egypt.
• During the Renaissance, Juniper was frequently used in art to represent chastity. For example, in Leonardo da Vinci's Ginevra de' Benci, not only was the subject named Juniper (in Italian Ginevra is Juniper), but directly behind the portrait is a Juniper tree. The reverse of the portrait is decorated with a juniper sprig encircled by a wreath of laurel and palm and is memorialized by the phrase VIRTUTEM FORMA DECORAT ("Beauty adorns Virtue").
• Saint Juniper, "the jester of the Lord" is sometimes called the Saint of comedy. He was also known for his patience-- it is said that St. Francis once described the perfect friar by citing "the patience of Brother Juniper, who attained the state of perfect patience because he kept the truth of his low estate constantly in mind, whose supreme desire was to follow Christ on the way of the cross." St. Frances held Juniper in such high regard he once said, "Would to God, my brothers, I had a whole forest of such Junipers."
• In many parts of Europe, juniper branches were smoldered and carried around fields to protect livestock and a female spirit of the Jupiter tree, called ~Frau Wachholder~ was invoked to make thieves return the goods they had stolen.
• In ancient Wales, the Juniper tree was sacred and it was believed that cutting down a Juniper tree would result in the woodcutter's death the following year.
• The Eastern Redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) is used to make wooden pencils and is the "cedar" used in moth-repelling cedar chests and drawers.
• The Juniper Berry is used as a distinct flavoring for a wide variety of dishes and beverages.
• One of the most famous Grimm Fairy Tales is "The Juniper Tree." In the story a mother is buried under a Juniper Tree, magically becomes part of the tree and a bird that was hatched in the tree, and avenges the death of her son when the bird drops a millstone and kills her son's stepmother.

Notable Junipers

Notable persons with given name Juniper

• Brother Juniper, main character in Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1927 novel "The Bridge of San Luis Rey" (also film versions)
• Brother Juniper, title character in Fred McCarthey's nationally syndicated comic strip that ran from 1946-1979
• Juniper Green character in the 1920s Catherine Chisholm musical "Lassie"
• Juniper "Junie" B. Jones, the title character in the Junie B. Jones children's books
• Juniper Lee, the title character in the cartoon series The Life and Times of Juniper Lee
• Juniper Sage, pen-name of author Margaret Wise Brown
• Juniper Serra, "Apostle of California," beatified in 1988 by Pope John Paul II (final step before sainthood)
• Juniper Shuey, artist
• Saint Juniper (d. 1258), a follower of Saint Francis of Assisi
• Juniper (Joon) Pearl one of the two title charactor in 1993's Benny and Joon, starring Johnny Depp as Benny and Mary Stuart Masterson as Joon.

Notable persons with Geneva variant form of Juniper

• Geneva Mitchell, actress
• Mamie Geneva Eisenhower, first lady

Notable persons with Genevieve variant form of Juniper

• Genevieve, a saint in Eastern Orthodoxy and Catholicism
• Genevieve Brunet (born 1959), Canadian female cyclist
• Geneviève Bujold (born 1942), Canadian actress.
• Genevieve Gorder (born 1974), American television host and interior designer
• Genevieve Villard, fictional character in Sigilverse
• Genevieve Woo (born 1969), Singaporean television news presenter

One notable automobile

• Genevieve (film), a vintage car, and title character of this classic British film

Notable persons with Ginevra variant form of Juniper

• Ginevra de' Benci, subject in Leonardo da Vinci painting
• Ginevra "Ginny" Weasley, character in Harry Potter books
• Ginevra King, muse of F. Scott Fitzgerald, named for the da Vinci painting
• Princess Ginevra of Scotland, one of the main characters of Handel's opera, Ariodante.

Notable persons with the surname Juniper

• Tony Juniper, environmentalist

The name Juniper in performing arts

• Juniper (band)
• Juniper Lane, band
• "Jennifer Juniper", 1968 song by Donovan
• Juniper Productions, theatre group

Notable businesses or products named Juniper

• Juniper Bank
• Juniper Networks
• Juniper (train)

Sources

• Folk-Etymology: A Dictionary of Verbal Corruptions or Words Perverted in Form by A. Smythe Palmer, 1969