Penni
Diminutive form of the feminine name Penelope, originating from Greek mythology meaning "weaver".
Name Census estimates that about 2,053 living Americans carry the first name Penni. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Penni today is around 60 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Penni births was 1962 (148 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Penni. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Penni with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.1K
~ 1 in 166,953 Americans
Peak year
1962
148 babies that year
Average age
60
years old
2023 SSA rank
#13,121
Tracked since 1938
Census
Penni in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,227 people with the first name Penni, which placed it at #6,999 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#6,999
National first-name rank
People counted
2.2K
2,227 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
90.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Penni
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Penni is White at 90.8%. The next largest groups are Black (3.1%) and Two or More Races (3.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Penni described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Penni at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.8% · 2,022
- Black or African American3.1% · 69
- Two or more races3.1% · 69
- Hispanic or Latino1.8% · 41
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 11
Popularity
Penni: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Penni from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 1,181 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Penni 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 Penni during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Pennis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 23 states and territories. California, New York, Ohio recorded the most babies named Penni, while Virginia, Tennessee, Oklahoma recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 38 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Penni
The name Penni is a diminutive form of the name Penelope, which has its origins in ancient Greek mythology. Penelope was the faithful wife of Odysseus, the hero of Homer's epic poem, the Odyssey. The name is derived from the Greek word "pene," meaning "thread" or "web," and "ops," meaning "eye" or "face," possibly referring to Penelope's skill at weaving and her watchful waiting for her husband's return from the Trojan War.
The earliest recorded use of the name Penni can be traced back to medieval Europe, where it was a popular variant of Penelope among various cultures. It was particularly common in regions influenced by the Romance languages, such as Italy, France, and Spain, where the name took on various spellings like Penna, Penne, and Penne.
One of the earliest known individuals named Penni was Penne de l'Enclos, a French courtier and poet who lived in the 16th century. She was known for her wit and intellect, and her writings were widely circulated among the French aristocracy of the time.
Another notable figure with the name Penni was Penni Boutsikaris, a Greek-American actress born in 1952. She has appeared in numerous films and television shows, including The Sting, ER, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
In the world of literature, Penni Jo Liston is an American author and professor who has written extensively on feminist theory and women's studies. Her notable works include "The Bright Light City" and "Skin Horses."
The name Penni also has connections to the world of art. Penni Cross is a contemporary Australian artist known for her vibrant abstract paintings and mixed media works. Her work has been exhibited internationally and is held in various private and public collections.
In the field of music, Penni Trumbull is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has gained recognition for her unique blend of folk and indie rock styles. Her albums, such as "Memories Defeat Meaning" and "Shaky Ground," have garnered critical acclaim.
While the name Penni has its roots in ancient Greek mythology and medieval European cultures, it has endured over time and taken on various forms and meanings across different regions and contexts.
People
Penni + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Penni 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
Penni: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Penni?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,053 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Penni 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 166,953 US residents.
Is Penni a common name?
We classify Penni as "Rare". It ranks above 93.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,605 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Penni most popular?
The single biggest year for Penni was 1962, when 148 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Penni is about 60 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Penni in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,227 people with the name Penni, or 0.74 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,999 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Penni in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Penni?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Penni appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,221 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Penni?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Penni is White at 90.8%. The next largest groups are Black (3.1%) and Two or More Races (3.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Penni most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Penni in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.8% (2,022 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Penni in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Penni a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Penni 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.
Is Penni still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Penni in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Penni can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people are named Penni?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.