# Penrose (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/penrose/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from Cornish.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Cornish |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 2,806 |
| US rank (2010) | 11,269 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 110,030 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.8% (2,704 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Bemrose |

## Etymology

From Cornish penn (“head”) + ros (“moor, heathland”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Penrose in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 89% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 3.9% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.6% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 1.1% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.4% |
| Two or more races | 2.6% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Penrose in the United States, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Australia.

## People named Penrose

- Beryl Penrose, Australian tennis player (1930–2021)
- Roland Penrose, British artist and art historian (1900-1984)
- Edith Penrose, American-born British economist
- R. A. F. Penrose Jr., American mining geologist and entrepreneur (1863–1931)
- Emily Penrose, British academic & college principal
- Elaine Breeden, American swimmer

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.