Penelopy
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "weaver".
Name Census estimates that about 87 living Americans carry the first name Penelopy. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Penelopy today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Penelopy births was 2018 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Penelopy. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Penelopy. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
87
~ 1 in 3,939,705 Americans
Peak year
2018
11 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2023 SSA rank
#17,008
Tracked since 2012
Popularity
Penelopy: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Penelopy from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 67 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Penelopy remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Penelopy by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Penelopy during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Penelopy
The name Penelopy has its origins in ancient Greek culture and language, dating back to around the 8th century BC. It is derived from the Greek words "pene" meaning "thread" or "web" and "lope" meaning "shred" or "peel off". The name is thought to symbolize the art of weaving and was associated with the domestic skills valued in ancient Greek society.
One of the earliest and most famous references to the name Penelopy is in Homer's epic poem, the Odyssey, written around the 8th century BC. In the poem, Penelopy is the faithful wife of Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, who waits patiently for his return from the Trojan War. Her name has become synonymous with marital fidelity and devotion.
In Greek mythology, Penelopy is also mentioned as the daughter of Icarius and Periboea, and the niece of the legendary Tyndareus. Some scholars believe that the name may have been associated with the cult of the goddess Athena, the patron of weaving and domestic arts.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Penelopy was Penelopy of Macedon, a princess who lived in the 4th century BC. She was the daughter of King Philip II of Macedon and the half-sister of Alexander the Great.
Another notable Penelopy in history was Penelopy Arundell (c. 1590-1670), an English noblewoman and diarist who recorded her experiences during the English Civil War. Her memoir, "The Memoir of Lady Penelope Arundell," provides a valuable insight into the lives of aristocratic women during that turbulent period.
Saint Penelopy (c. 1st century AD) was a Christian martyr who lived during the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. She is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches.
In literature, one of the most famous depictions of the name is in William Shakespeare's play "The Winter's Tale" (c. 1611), where the character Paulina is based on the name Penelopy.
Penelopy Fitzgerald (1916-1986) was an American artist and the wife of the famous writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. She played a significant role in promoting her husband's literary work and preserving his legacy.
People
Penelopy + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Penelopy as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with P
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Penelopy: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Penelopy?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 87 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Penelopy going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 3,939,705 US residents.
Is Penelopy a common name?
We classify Penelopy as "Very Rare". It ranks above 62.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 88 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Penelopy most popular?
The single biggest year for Penelopy was 2018, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Penelopy is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Penelopy a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Penelopy in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.