Move over, Karen; Gen Z has officially picked a successor.
After years of debate, it seems that a consensus is forming around the new name to represent a specific form of middle aged entitlement.
Actual Jessicas are attempting to defend their honor, but are having all the success of defensive Karens.
From "Karen" to "Jessica"
Everybody who's ever been online is familiar with the name that became a pejorative—Karen. In the 2010s, the moniker became synonymous with white women calling the cops on people of color for standing up to them or just being in public. She's the entitled Baby Boomer who wants to speak to the manager.
After the term went viral, discourse soon circulated around whether it was starting to become just another way to be sexist against any women who dares speak up. Some surely over-used it, and women actually named Karen faced shame and distress.
The debate was never really settled, and now we've reached a point where Baby Boomers and even Gen X are aging out and a new name needs to take its place. Many millennials are now in their 40s—prime Karen time.
People suggested several common names for this generation, but one stands out as the most popular, at least in the U.S. According to the Social Security Administration, Jessica was the most common choice for girl babies from 1985 to 1989, and again from 1993 to 1995. Very millennial.
Popular content creator @wouldyoukindly predicted the rise of Jessica in 2024.
"Jessica will mess you up. Jess is going to fight somebody if she gets angry," she said. "So I think it’s going to be Jessica. I just feel it."
In 2025, some tried to stop Jessica from becoming the new Karen, arguing that every Jessica they know is perfectly nice.
"Let's take Jessica out of this," said @erindieheart in July. "There's no bad Jessicas, okay? And as a millennial, I feel like we would know who are the a-holes of our generation. We could determine our Karen, right?"
@erindieheart #millennialsoftiktok #karen #fyp #foryou ♬ original sound - Erin Dieheart
"It feels more like a Brittany to me."
"Who was in charge of this voting system?"
As Jessica emerged as the undisputed millennial Karen, TikTok Jessicas entered the first stages of grief.
"Somebody said 'what's the millennial name equivalent for a Karen?'" said @junkmotherjess, a nurse. "And all of them said 'Jessica.' One of them said 'Jessica, and I just know she's a nurse,' and I want you guys to know, you can go f-"
"I am genuinely upset because my husband told me that the new Karen that all the kids are referring to now is no longer 'Karen,'" @rnjessicaa confessed. "It's Jessica. B*tches."
"Me finding out Jessica is the new Karen," wrote @jessduitt over herself as she blinked and glanced up at her username.
Meanwhile, some Jessicas are feeling more conflicted about the news.
"I don't know whether to feel flattered about this or offended," said @jessblanc87. "Who was in charge of this voting system?"
Everyone except Jessica, we assume.
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