Question: ```
$("selector").data("name", null);
console.log($("selector").data("name"));

```

This prints `undefined`.

Is there anyway to instantiate a `null` item in the jQuery data object of an element, not an undefined one?

Answer: 
Yes and Your code works fine, You should check if your `$("selector")` exists
Your code works well as @Sebastian Krysiak stated, check if the selector exists. See working snippet below:

```js
console.log("before: " + $(".selector").data("name"));
$(".selector").data("name", null);
console.log("after: " + $(".selector").data("name"));
```

```html
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<div class='selector' data-name='test'></div>
```

An example to demonstrate what happens if the selector does not exist, like in your case, it returns `undefined` (maybe you should say what is the type of the selector e.g. `class` - `.selector` or `id` - `#selector`):

```js
console.log("before: " + $("selector").data("name"));
$("selector").data("name", null);
console.log("after: " + $("selector").data("name"));
```

```html
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<div class='selector' data-name='test'></div>
```