# Penny (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/penny/  
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 | not recorded |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /ˈpɛni/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Pennie |
| US babies named this | 101,003 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 384 / 100,619 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 4,595, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Pen(elope) + -y.

## 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 | 165 | 1,391 |
| 2012 | 233 | 1,074 |
| 2013 | 251 | 997 |
| 2014 | 345 | 809 |
| 2015 | 372 | 759 |
| 2016 | 419 | 693 |
| 2017 | 361 | 769 |
| 2018 | 363 | 752 |
| 2019 | 362 | 770 |
| 2020 | 383 | 727 |
| 2021 | 409 | 707 |
| 2022 | 402 | 728 |
| 2023 | 434 | 676 |
| 2024 | 377 | 748 |
| 2025 | 368 | 740 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 13 | 2,400 |
| 1961 | 10 | 2,845 |
| 1962 | 26 | 1,580 |
| 1963 | 14 | 2,278 |
| 1964 | 16 | 2,093 |
| 1965 | 11 | 2,582 |
| 1966 | 8 | 3,177 |
| 1967 | 13 | 2,323 |
| 1968 | 11 | 2,689 |
| 1969 | 10 | 3,012 |
| 1970 | 13 | 2,706 |
| 1971 | 13 | 2,775 |
| 1972 | 8 | 3,878 |
| 1973 | 11 | 3,163 |
| 1974 | 7 | 4,505 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 115 | 398 |
| 2012 | 156 | 308 |
| 2013 | 190 | 254 |
| 2014 | 259 | 208 |
| 2015 | 301 | 183 |
| 2016 | 305 | 178 |
| 2017 | 305 | 176 |
| 2018 | 260 | 198 |
| 2019 | 294 | 173 |
| 2020 | 304 | 166 |
| 2021 | 288 | 178 |
| 2022 | 262 | 196 |
| 2023 | 256 | 194 |
| 2024 | 251 | 193 |
| 2025 | 201 | 232 |

## People named Penny

- Penny Marshall, American actress, director and producer (1943–2018)
- Penny Mordaunt, British politician (born 1973)
- Penny Hardaway, American basketball player and coach
- Penny Johnson Jerald, American actress
- Penny Oleksiak, Canadian swimmer (2000-)
- Penny Pritzker, American billionaire businesswoman (born 1959)
- Penny Wong, Australian politician
- Penny Taylor, Australian basketball player (born 1981)
- Penny Pax, American pornographic actress
- Penny Singleton, American actress (1908-2003)
- Penny Pitou, alpine skier
- Penny Fuller, American actress (b. 1940)

## 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.