First Name
59k
in the U.S.
since 1880
Last Name
<100
in the U.S.
in 2010
Girls
Boys
On This Page
  1. Related Names
  2. Pronunciation
  3. Meanings and Origins
  4. Notable Persons Named Penelope
  5. Notable Persons With the Last Name Penelope
  6. Popularity by Year and Gender
  7. Regional Popularity
  8. Fun Facts
  9. What Penelopes Have Visited This Page?
  10. Name Poster

How to Pronounce Penelope

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Meaning and Origin

What does the name Penelope mean? Find out below.

Origin and Meaning of Penelope

User Submitted Meanings

  • According to a user from California, United States, the name Penelope is of Unknown origin and means "Be you".
  • A user from United Kingdom says the name Penelope is of Greek origin and means "Weaver".
Other origins: Polish

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Webster's Unabridged Dictionary
noun Pe*nel"o*pe
A genus of curassows, including the guans.

Etymology: From. L. Penelope, the wife of Ulysses, the hero of the Odyssey, Gr. Phnelo`ph

Other Dictionary Sources
  1. A genus of guans (turkey-like arboreal birds valued as game and food birds)
    Synonyms: genus penelope
  2. (Greek mythology) the wife of Odysseus and a symbol of devotion and fidelity; for 10 years while Odysseus fought the Trojan War she resisted numerous suitors until Odysseus returned and killed them
Wiktionary

From Ancient Greek Πηνελόπη, possibly from πηνέλοψ (pēnélops, “duck”).

  1. (Greek mythology) The faithful wife of Odysseus.
  2. A female given name.
  3. A town in Texas.

Penelope was also found in the following language(s): Translingual and Italian

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Notable Persons Named Penelope

Penélope Cruz

Penélope Cruz is an actress and model. She has had major accomplishments since 1989. Penélope was given the name Penélope Cruz Sánchez on April 28th, 1974 in Alcobendas, Madrid, Spain.

Popularity:
Penelope Ann Miller

Penelope Ann Miller is an actress. Her ongoing career started in 1985. Penelope was given the name Penelope Andrea Miller on January 13th, 1964 in Los Angeles, California, U.S.

Popularity:
Penelope Wilton

Penelope Wilton is an actress. She has been prominent since 1968. Penelope was given the name Penelope Alice Wilton on June 3rd, 1946 in Scarborough, North Riding of Yorkshire, England, UK.

Popularity:
Dame Penelope Keith

Dame Penelope Keith is an actress. Her ongoing career started in 1959. Dame was given the name Penelope Anne Constance Hatfield on April 2nd, 1940 in Sutton, Surrey, England.

Popularity:
Penelope Garcia

Penelope Garcia is a fbi technical analyst, co-communications liaisonbrown eyes, and federal bureau of investigation.

Popularity:
Penelope Spheeris

Penelope Spheeris is a film director, film producer, and screenwriter. Her most notable accomplishments were from 1968 to present. Penelope was born on December 2nd, 1945 in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.

Popularity:
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Notable Persons With the Last Name Penelope

Viscountess Cobham Penelope

Viscountess was given the name Penelope Ann Cooper on January 2nd, 1954.

Popularity:
Julia Penelope

Julia Penelope was an american author, linguist, academic, philosopher; lgbt, feminist activist, linguistics, and philosopher. Julia was given the name Julia Penelope Stanley on June 19th, 1941 in Miami. Julia is also known as Stanley and Julia Penelope. She left this life on January 19th, 2013.

Popularity:
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How popular is the baby name Penelope in the U.S.?

Click Here to Show Chart Data
Year Total Babies Born Girls Born Boys Born Ranking
1880 5 5 0
1883 6 6 0
1886 7 7 0
1888 8 8 0
1889 8 8 0
1890 5 5 0
1891 9 9 0
1893 6 6 0
1895 5 5 0
1896 6 6 0
1898 5 5 0
1900 6 6 0
1902 5 5 0
1906 5 5 0
1907 5 5 0
1909 8 8 0
1910 8 8 0
1911 7 7 0
1912 11 11 0
1913 13 13 0
1914 16 16 0
1915 31 31 0
1916 37 37 0
1917 32 32 0
1918 44 44 0
1919 49 49 0
1920 54 54 0
1921 45 45 0
1922 61 61 0
1923 58 58 0
1924 65 65 0
1925 66 66 0
1926 64 64 0
1927 57 57 0
1928 49 49 0
1929 43 43 0
1930 44 44 0
1931 37 37 0
1932 45 45 0
1933 40 40 0
1934 43 43 0
1935 69 69 0
1936 102 102 0
1937 173 173 0
1938 188 188 0
1939 368 368 0
1940 439 439 0
1941 546 546 0
1942 670 670 0
1943 643 643 0
1944 678 678 0
1945 509 509 0
1946 641 641 0
1947 797 797 0
1948 782 782 0
1949 679 679 0
1950 645 645 0
1951 568 568 0
1952 529 529 0
1953 537 537 0
1954 482 482 0
1955 419 419 0
1956 380 380 0
1957 422 422 0
1958 387 387 0
1959 388 388 0
1960 316 316 0
1961 310 310 0
1962 286 286 0
1963 322 322 0
1964 266 266 0
1965 264 264 0
1966 223 223 0
1967 255 255 0
1968 282 282 0
1969 345 345 0
1970 315 315 0
1971 204 204 0
1972 219 219 0
1973 222 222 0
1974 184 184 0
1975 160 160 0
1976 121 121 0
1977 119 119 0
1978 108 108 0
1979 100 100 0
1980 82 82 0
1981 78 78 0
1982 60 60 0
1983 65 65 0
1984 59 59 0
1985 56 56 0
1986 53 53 0
1987 63 63 0
1988 47 47 0
1989 42 42 0
1990 60 60 0
1991 61 61 0
1992 62 62 0
1993 54 54 0
1994 65 65 0
1995 92 92 0
1996 80 80 0
1997 99 99 0
1998 116 116 0
1999 102 102 0
2000 131 131 0
2001 235 235 0
2002 346 346 0
2003 367 367 0
2004 423 423 0
2005 513 513 0
2006 649 649 0
2007 794 794 0
2008 919 919 0
2009 1,296 1,296 0
2010 1,547 1,547 0
2011 1,871 1,871 0
2012 2,532 2,532 0
2013 4,289 4,289 0 #56 girl name
2014 5,082 5,082 0 #43 girl name
2015 5,943 5,938 5 #34 girl name
2016 6,394 6,385 9 #27 girl name
2017 6,645 6,639 6 #24 girl name
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Where is the name Penelope popular?

View popular names by state or region.

Popularity of Penelope as a first name

The map shows the relative popularity of the name Penelope as a first name in each of the states. See other popular names in Nevada, Washington, or Arizona.

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Common last names for Penelope

  • Smith
  • Brown
  • Wilson
  • Johnson
  • Clark
  • Jones
  • Davis
  • Young
  • Scott

Fun Facts about the name Penelope

  • How Popular is the name Penelope? Penelope is the 897th most popular name of all time. In 2017 Penelope was the 24th most popular name.
  • How many people with the first name Penelope have been born in the United States? From 1880 to 2017, the Social Security Administration has recorded 59,152 babies born with the first name Penelope in the United States. That's more than enough people named Penelope to occupy the territory of Greenland (Denmark) with an estimated population of 56,749 (as of January 1, 2012).
  • What year were 5 or more babies first named Penelope? The name was first given to 5 or more babies in the year 1880 when it was given as a first name to 5 new born babies.
  • When was Penelope first recorded in the United States? The oldest recorded birth by the Social Security Administration for the first name Penelope is Friday, October 17th, 1873.
  • What year had the most people named Penelope born? The highest recorded use of the first name Penelope was in 2017 with a total of 6,639 babies. That's a lot of babies named Penelope!
  • Random Penelope Factoid: According to the 2016 U.S. Social Security Administration data, the first name Penelope ranks 54th in popularity as a baby girl's name in District of Columbia. Imagine that, 16 babies in District of Columbia have the same name as you in 2016.
  • Weird things about the name Penelope: Your name in reverse order is Epolenep. A random rearrangement of the letters in your name (anagram) will give Peloeenp. How do you pronounce that?
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What Penelopes Have Visited This Page?

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Name poster for Penelope

Name poster for Penelope(click to save the high quality version)

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Most Popular Names

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All Name Lists

  • Sources:
  • U.S. Census Bureau: Frequently Occurring Surnames from the Census 2000 (public domain).
  • U.S. Social Security Administration: Popular Baby Names, Death Master File (public domain).
  • 1913 Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary via the Collaborative International Dictionary of English (License)
  • Other Dictionary Sources: WordNet 3.1 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University (License).
  • Wiktionary: Titles and License.
  • Notable persons via Wikipedia: Titles and License. Click each image for the attribution information.