# Penelope (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/penelope/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | Greek |
| Meaning | “duck” |
| Pronunciation | /pɪˈnɛləpi/, 4 syllables |
| Nicknames | Penny, Pen |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 109,533 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 53 / 109,480 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 14,283, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

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

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 1,871 | 168 |
| 2012 | 2,536 | 125 |
| 2013 | 4,292 | 56 |
| 2014 | 5,089 | 43 |
| 2015 | 5,953 | 34 |
| 2016 | 6,400 | 27 |
| 2017 | 6,668 | 24 |
| 2018 | 6,524 | 26 |
| 2019 | 6,734 | 22 |
| 2020 | 6,152 | 26 |
| 2021 | 6,370 | 23 |
| 2022 | 6,430 | 21 |
| 2023 | 6,068 | 23 |
| 2024 | 5,760 | 28 |
| 2025 | 6,225 | 22 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 5 | 13,531 |
| 2016 | 9 | 8,640 |
| 2017 | 6 | 11,845 |
| 2018 | 7 | 10,461 |
| 2020 | 5 | 13,556 |
| 2021 | 10 | 8,009 |
| 2022 | 5 | 13,832 |
| 2024 | 6 | 11,984 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 191 | 255 |
| 2012 | 240 | 209 |
| 2013 | 411 | 130 |
| 2014 | 575 | 101 |
| 2015 | 832 | 69 |
| 2016 | 972 | 63 |
| 2017 | 1,020 | 55 |
| 2018 | 1,068 | 48 |
| 2019 | 1,157 | 41 |
| 2020 | 1,020 | 44 |
| 2021 | 1,194 | 38 |
| 2022 | 1,206 | 32 |
| 2023 | 1,156 | 33 |
| 2024 | 1,133 | 36 |
| 2025 | 1,174 | 33 |

## In other languages

- Arabic: بِينِيلُوبِي
- French: Pénélope
- Polish: Penelopa
- Spanish: Penélope

## People named Penelope

- Penelope Fitzgerald, British writer and poet (1916–2000)
- Penelope Ann Miller, American actress
- Penelope Lively, British novelist (born 1933)
- Penelope Wilton, English actress
- Penelope Keith, English actress (1940–2026)
- Penelope Milford, American actress
- Penelope Spheeris, American filmmaker
- Penelope Mitchell, Australian actress
- Penelope Plummer, Australian model, actress, and beauty queen
- Pénélope Leprevost, equestrian
- Penelope Maddy, American mathematician and philosopher
- Penelope Mortimer, British journalist, biographer and novelist (1918–1999)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.