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
What about this?

```js
$(document).ready(function() {
    var aVariableValue = null;
    $("#myDiv").data("name", aVariableValue);
    console.log($("#myDiv").data("name"));
});
```

```html
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>

<div id="myDiv"></div>
```