Jacqueline is a given name, the French feminine form of Jacques, also commonly used in the English-speaking world. Older forms and variant spellings were sometimes given to men.
Contents
Origins
Jacqueline comes from French, as the feminine form of Jacques (English James). Jacques originated from Jacob, which is derived from the Hebrew.
Variant and diminutive forms
Many variants in both spelling and pronunciation of the name Jacqueline have come into use, such as Jacquelyn, Jacquelin, Jackeline, Jaclyn, Jakelin, Jackielyn, Jacklyn, and Jaqueline. The diminutive for Jacqueline is Jac, Jack, Jackie, Jaque or Jacqui, which also has many variants.
American usage
Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut was a famous early bearer of the name. She was the subject of the 1831 historical novel Jacqueline of Holland by Irish novelist Thomas Colley Grattan. The name was in rare, occasional use in the Southern United States in the 1800s. It first appeared among the 1,000 most used names for American newborn girls in 1898 and reached peak usage in 1950, when it was the 55th most popular name given to American girls. It was regarded by American parents as a feminine version of the name Jack.
The name then declined in use by the late 1950s, but increased again in popularity in the early 1960s due to the fame of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, née Jacqueline Lee Bouvier, often referred to as Jackie Kennedy following her marriage to U.S. President John F. Kennedy. The name was ranked 111th in 1959 and 37th in 1961, the year President Kennedy took office. The name also experienced another surge in popularity in 1964 following the assassination of President Kennedy on November 22, 1963, and Jackie Kennedy's display of dignity and strength as his grieving widow.
Other media influences have also inspired increased usage of the name. Usage of the spelling variant Jaclyn increased after actress Jaclyn Smith began appearing on the American television series Charlie's Angels from 1976 to 1981. Usage of the spelling variant Jacklyn increased after actress Jacklyn Zeman began appearing on the American soap opera General Hospital. Usage of the name Jacqueline increased among Hispanic and Latino Americans after it was used for a teenage character on the popular Mexican telenovela Soñadoras, which was also widely viewed in the United States.
World usage
Jacqueline has also been a popular first name in Australia, Brazil, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, and elsewhere. While the popularity of the name and its variants has declined worldwide, it remains in regular use.
Transliterations
Amharic: ጃክሊን (Jakilīni)
Arabic: جاكلين
Armenian: Ժագլին, Ժաքլինը (Zhak’liny)
Bangla: জ্যাকুলিন (Jyākulina)
Bulgarian: Жаклин, Zhaklina
Simplified Chinese: Jiékuílín, 杰奎琳
Traditional Chinese: Jiékuílín, 賈桂琳
Cantonese: 積琦蓮
Croatian: Jaklina
Czech: Jakubka, Jakuba
Danish: Jacobine, Bine, Iben
Dutch: Jacoba, Jacobina, Jacobine, Coba, Jacomina
French: Jacquette, Jacquetta, Jacqui, Jacquine, Jaquette
Galician: Xaquelina
Georgian: ჟაკლინ (Zhaklin)
Greek: Iakovina (Ιακωβινα)
Gujarati: Jēkvēlina (જેક્વેલિન)
Hebrew: ז'קלין, ג'קלין, ג'קי
Hindi: Jaikalina, जैकलिन
Hungarian: Zsaklin
Italian: Giachetta, Giacomina, Giacoma
Irish: Séamaisíona, Seacailín, Siacailín
Japanese: Jakurīn (ジャクリーン)
Notable people
Television, stage, and film
Jacqueline Beer (born 1932), former actress and present chair of the Board of Directors of the Thor Heyerdahl Research Centre
Jacqueline Bisset (born 1944), British actress
Jacqueline Boatswain (born 1962), English actress
Jacqueline Bracamontes (born 1979), Mexican actress
Jackie Brambles (born 1967), British television presenter
Jacqueline Brookes (1930–2013), American stage actress
Jacqueline Fernandez (born 1985), Bahraini–Sri Lankan actress and model
Jacqueline Ellen Last O'Neil Henderson (born 1975), Australian radio host known as "Jackie O"
Jacqueline "Jackie" Emerson, American actress
Jacqueline (Jackée) Harry (born 1956), American actress
Jacqueline Hennessy (born 1968), Canadian actress and singer
Jacqueline Hill (1929–1993), British actress
Jacqueline Jossa (born 1992), English actress
Jacqueline Kim, Korean-American actress best known for the role of Lao Ma in the television series Xena: Warrior Princess
Jacqueline Laurence (1932–2024), French-born Brazilian actress and theatre director
Sports
Jacqueline Batteast (born 1983), US basketball player
Jacqueline Delord (born 1970), French swimmer
Jackie Silva (born 1962), Brazilian beach volleyball player
Jackie Gayda (born 1981), American semi-retired professional wrestler
Jackie Joyner-Kersee (born 1962), American retired track and field athlete
Jacqueline Moore (born 1964), American semi-retired professional wrestler
Jacqueline Owusu (born 2002), Ghanaian footballer
Jacqueline Perkins (runner) (born 1965), Australian long-distance runner
Jacquie Phelan (born 1955), American professional mountain bike champion
Jacqueline Pusey (born 1959), Jamaican sprint athlete
Jacqueline Todten (born 1954), German javelin thrower
Literature
Jacqueline Bishop, Jamaican writer, visual artist and photographer
Jacqueline Briskin (1927–2014), writer
Jacqueline "Jackie" French (born 1953), Australian children's writer
Jacqueline Jackson (born 1944), author and peace activist
Jacqueline Susann (1918–1974), American writer
Jacqueline Wilson (born 1945), English novelist
Jacqueline Woodson (born 1963), American writer
Music
Jacqueline Boyer (born 1941), French singer and actress
Jacqueline "Jacky" Clark Chisholm (born 1948), American singer
Jacqueline du Pré (1945–1987), British cellist
Jacqueline Marie "Jackie" Evancho (born 2000), American classical crossover singer
Jacqueline Govaert (born 1982), Dutch singer
Jacqueline Lemay (1937–2026), Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
Jacqueline Sagana (born 1984), known as Jackie Sagana, Spanish R&B singer
Jacqueline Taïeb (born 1948), French singer
Science
Jacqueline Barton (born 1952), American chemist
Jacqueline Beggs (born 1962), New Zealand entomologist and ecologist
Jacqueline Chen, American applied mathematician and mechanical engineer
Jacqueline Coutras (born 1942), French geographer, CNRS researcher, and pioneer of gender geography in France
Jacqueline Dewar, American mathematician
Jacqueline Ferrand, (1918–2014), French mathematician
Jacqueline Ficini (1923–1988), French researcher and professor of chemistry
Jacqueline McGlade (born 1955), British-born Canadian environmental scientist
Jacqueline Noonan (1928–2020), American pediatric cardiologist
Jacqueline Verdeau-Paillès (1924–2010), French neuropsychiatrist, music therapist
Government and politics
Jacquelyn Domaingue, American politician
Jackie Jones (born 1966), Welsh politician
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, (1929–1994), widow of US President John F. Kennedy and Aristotle Onassis
Jacqueline Panis (born 1948), French politician
Jacqueline Perkins (diplomat), British diplomat and ambassador
Jacqueline de Quattro (born 1960), Swiss politician
Jaqueline Rauschkolb (born 1987), German politician
Jaqueline Sabao (born 1975), Zambian politician
Jacqui Smith (born 1962), British politician, former Home Secretary
Other people
Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut (1401–1436)
Jacqueline Felice de Almania (fl. 1322), Italian physician
Jacqueline Auriol, (1917–2000), French aviator
Jacqueline Bishop, Jamaican writer, visual artist and photographer
Jacqueline Bracamontes, beauty pageant titleholder
Jacqueline Cochran (1906–1980), American aviator and business executive, first woman pilot to break the sound barrier and head of the Women Airforce Service Pilots for part of World War II
Jacqueline de Jong (1939–2024), Dutch painter, sculptor and graphic artist
Jakelin de Mailly, a Frankish knight (male) who took part in the Battle of Cresson in 1187
Jacqueline Aguilera Marcano (born 1976), 1995 Miss World representative of Venezuela
Jacqueline Ripstein, Mexican artist
Jacqueline Saburido, victim and survivor of a high-profile drunk-driving incident
Jackie Stallone (1921–2020), American astrologer, mother of actor Sylvester Stallone and singer Frank Stallone
Jacqueline Thomas (1945–1961), victim in a high-profile 1960s English murder case
Jakelin Troy (born 1960), Australian linguist
Jacqueline Grennan Wexler (1926–2012), American Roman Catholic nun and university president
Fictional characters
Jacqueline Ingrid Bouvier, TV cartoon character on The Simpsons
Jacqueline Beulah Burkhart, character from That '70s Show
Jacqueline "Jacqui" Bernadette McQueen, character from the long-running soap opera Hollyoaks
Jacqueline Natla, main antagonist and final boss from Tomb Raider video games
Jacqueline Andrea Suzette Tyler, a character from the 2005 Doctor Who television series
Jacqueline Payne Marone, character from The Bold and the Beautiful
Jackie Wilcox, character from the TV series Heroes
Jacqueline Falsworth-Crichton, comic book character
Jacquelyn Scieszka, a character in the TV adaptation of A Series of Unfortunate Events