Gen Zs declare ‘Jessica’ as the millennial version of ‘Karen’ after years-long internet debate

After years of calling out “Karens”, internet culture has decided it’s time for a new name to label entitled or dramatic behaviour.

Gen Z has officially crowned “Jessica” as the latest shorthand for someone acting rude, demanding or overly emotional in public or online.

The once-viral Karen stereotype largely targeted boomers and Gen X, but as millennials move into their late 30s and 40s, they’re increasingly becoming the protagonists of viral confrontation clips that once skewered their parents’ generation.

Traditionally, a Karen was imagined as a middle-aged woman with a sharp bob haircut, a tendency to complain, and a readiness to demand speaking to the manager over the slightest inconvenience.

The character became symbolic of privilege, impatience, and a lack of self-awareness during everyday encounters caught on camera.

Now, Jessica, young internet users suggest, represents the millennial version.

Debates over Karen’s successor have been circulating online for years. Names like Jennifer, Ashley, Lisa and Amanda were floated as contenders, but Jessica has emerged as the frontrunner.

“I’m guessing it’s going to be Jessica,” TikTok creator @wouldyakindly predicted in a video shared back in 2021, which has recently resurfaced.

“I feel like, because I don’t know, I feel like Jen seems nice, if she goes by Jennifer, probably not that nice. Jessica will mess you up, Jess is gonna fight somebody if she gets angry,” she said.

The choice lines up neatly with naming trends. Karen was one of the most popular baby names of the 1960s. By the 1980s and 1990s (prime millennial birth years), Jessica had become one of the top girls’ names across the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.

Not all Jessicas are thrilled about the new title Gen Z has bestowed upon them.

“It has come to my unfortunate knowledge that the children of Gen Z have given Jessicas the title of a ‘Karen’ in their day and age. I haven’t heard this. I don’t even think they know a Jessica, let’s be real,” TikTok user Jessica Finn said.

“I’m going to put this to rest. It definitely isn’t Jessica. Being a Jessica, we’re minding our business, we’re probably judging, but from afar, because we know better. We’re probably at home minding our business, reading a book, getting out in nature, focusing on how to exist in today’s day and age.

“Fighting with someone, moving our bangs to the side, isn’t really for us. We know better. We definitely are not Karens.”

Users flooded the comment section in agreement.

“There is no way Jessica is on the same level as a Karen,” one user wrote.

“Jennifer, it should definitely be Jennifer,” wrote another.