Penrose
A masculine name derived from an English place name meaning "pen hill slope".
Name Census estimates that about 12 living Americans carry the first name Penrose. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 63.6% of registrations being male. The average person named Penrose today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Penrose births was 1921 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Penrose. 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 Penrose. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
12
~ 1 in 28,562,862 Americans
Peak year
1921
6 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
1925 SSA rank
#4,734
Tracked since 1914
Gender
Gender distribution for Penrose
Penrose is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 33 total registrations, 21 (63.6%) were male and 12 (36.4%) were female.
Penrose as a male name
- Ranked #4,734 in 1925
- 5 male births in 1925
- Peak: 1921 (6 births)
Penrose as a female name
- Ranked #14,877 in 2022
- 6 female births in 2022
- Peak: 2014 (6 births)
Popularity
Penrose: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Penrose from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 11 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Penrose remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Penrose 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 Penrose 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 Penrose
The name Penrose finds its roots in the Old English language, originating around the 5th to 12th centuries. It is believed to have derived from the combination of two words: "pen," meaning a hill or promontory, and "ros," meaning a rose or rose bush. This suggests that the name initially referred to a person residing on a hill adorned with roses or a rose garden.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Penrose can be traced back to the Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of land ownership and taxation in England compiled by order of William the Conqueror in 1086. The Domesday Book mentions a landowner named Penros, which is believed to be an early variation of the modern spelling Penrose.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Penrose. One such figure was Sir Thomas Penrose (1515-1570), an English politician and soldier who served as a Member of Parliament and fought in the Battle of Pinkie during the Anglo-Scottish wars. Another prominent Penrose was William Penrose (1771-1835), an English clergyman and writer who authored several religious works and served as the vicar of Bracebridge in Lincolnshire.
In the realm of arts and literature, the name Penrose is associated with Valentine Penrose (1898-1978), a British poet and artist known for his surrealist works and his association with the Surrealist movement. He was a significant figure in the literary and artistic circles of his time.
Another notable bearer of the name was Sir Roger Penrose (1931-), a renowned British mathematical physicist and philosopher of science. He is best known for his contributions to the study of black holes and the theory of general relativity, as well as his work on the foundations of quantum mechanics and the nature of human consciousness.
Francis Penrose (1817-1903) was an English architect and archaeologist who made significant contributions to the study of medieval architecture. He conducted extensive research on cathedrals and churches throughout England and published several influential works on the subject.
While the name Penrose has its roots in Old English, it has found usage across various cultures and regions over the centuries, with individuals bearing this name leaving their mark in various fields, including politics, religion, arts, literature, science, and architecture.
People
Penrose + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Penrose 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
Penrose: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Penrose?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 12 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Penrose 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 28,562,862 US residents.
Is Penrose a common name?
We classify Penrose as "Very Rare". It ranks above 32.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 33 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Penrose most popular?
The single biggest year for Penrose was 1921, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Penrose is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Penrose a male name?
Yes, 63.6% of people registered as Penrose in the SSA data are male. 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.