Peniel
Face of God, relating to Jacob's wrestling with an angel.
Name Census estimates that about 326 living Americans carry the first name Peniel. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 50.5% of registrations being female. The average person named Peniel today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Peniel births was 2020 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Peniel. 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.
People living today
326
~ 1 in 1,051,394 Americans
Peak year
2020
25 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,379
Tracked since 1997
Gender
Gender distribution for Peniel
Peniel is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 329 total registrations, 163 (49.5%) were male and 166 (50.5%) were female.
Peniel as a male name
- Ranked #10,615 in 2024
- 7 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2018 (14 births)
Peniel as a female name
- Ranked #9,379 in 2024
- 11 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2020 (17 births)
Popularity
Peniel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Peniel from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 174 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Peniel remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Peniel 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 Peniel 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 Peniel
The name Peniel has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture. It is a biblical name derived from the Hebrew words "peni" meaning "face" and "el" meaning "God". The name is first mentioned in the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament, referring to the place where the patriarch Jacob wrestled with an angel.
In the biblical account, Jacob was on his way to meet his estranged brother Esau when he encountered a mysterious being and wrestled with him throughout the night. At daybreak, the being blessed Jacob and gave him the new name "Israel". Jacob then named the place "Peniel", meaning "the face of God", as he said, "I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been preserved".
The earliest recorded instances of the name Peniel were in biblical times, around the 2nd millennium BCE. It was initially used as a place name, but over time, it also became a personal name, particularly among Jewish and Christian communities.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Peniel was Peniel ben Samuel, a 12th-century French rabbi and biblical commentator. He was a prominent figure in the Jewish community of Reims, France, and authored several influential works on Jewish law and tradition.
In the 17th century, Peniel Whalley was an English Puritan minister and one of the founding settlers of Connecticut Colony in the United States. He was born in 1615 and played a significant role in the establishment of the colony's religious and political institutions.
Another notable figure was Peniel Prentice, an American Congregationalist minister and author born in 1738. He wrote several influential works on theology and served as a chaplain during the American Revolutionary War.
In the 19th century, Peniel Hebert was a French-Canadian politician and lawyer born in 1854. He served as a member of the Canadian Parliament and was actively involved in the political affairs of Quebec.
More recently, Peniel Joseph is an American scholar and author born in 1973. He is a renowned historian and has written extensively on African American history, civil rights, and race relations in the United States.
While not as common as some other biblical names, Peniel has maintained a presence throughout history, particularly among religious communities and those with connections to its biblical roots. Its meaning, "the face of God", has given the name a profound significance, making it a unique and meaningful choice for parents.
People
Peniel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Peniel 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
Peniel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Peniel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 326 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Peniel 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 1,051,394 US residents.
Is Peniel a common name?
We classify Peniel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 329 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Peniel most popular?
The single biggest year for Peniel was 2020, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Peniel is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Peniel a female name?
Yes, 50.5% of people registered as Peniel 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.