Pinkey
A feminine name of English origin meaning "pink", symbolizing delicacy and beauty.
Name Census estimates that about 104 living Americans carry the first name Pinkey. It is a predominantly female name (99.0% of registrations). The average person named Pinkey today is around 77 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Pinkey births was 1910 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Pinkey. 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
- • The typical person named Pinkey is about 77 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Pinkeys were born before 1959.
People living today
104
~ 1 in 3,295,715 Americans
Peak year
1910
17 babies that year
Average age
77
years old
1923 SSA rank
#4,142
Tracked since 1880
Census
Pinkey in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 208 people with the first name Pinkey, which placed it at #37,486 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
#37,486
National first-name rank
People counted
208
208 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
65.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pinkey
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Pinkey is Black at 65.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (16.3%) and White (12.0%). 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 Pinkey 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 Pinkey at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American65.4% · 136
- Asian and Pacific Islander16.3% · 34
- White12.0% · 25
- Two or more races3.8% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino1.4% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Pinkey
Pinkey leans heavily female at 99.0% of total registrations, but 6 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Pinkey as a male name
- Ranked #4,142 in 1923
- 6 male births in 1923
- Peak: 1923 (6 births)
Pinkey as a female name
- Ranked #7,532 in 1964
- 5 female births in 1964
- Peak: 1910 (17 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Pinkey leans strongly female. 177 people counted with this name were female (86.8%), compared with 27 male bearers (13.2%).
Popularity
Pinkey: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Pinkey from the 1880s through to the 1960s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 108 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Pinkey 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 Pinkey during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Pinkeys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Pinkey
The name Pinkey is believed to have originated from the English language, with its roots tracing back to the 16th century. It is a diminutive form of the name Penelope, which was derived from the Greek word "penelops," meaning "duck" or "web-footed bird." The name Penelope was popularized by the character of the same name in Homer's Odyssey, who was the faithful wife of Odysseus.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Pinkey can be found in the parish records of St. Mary's Church in Bury St. Edmunds, England, where a child named Pinkey Browne was baptized in 1587. This suggests that the name was in use among English families during the late 16th century.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Pinkey. In the 18th century, Pinkey Watts (1720-1792) was a renowned English actress who performed in various productions in London's theatres. Her talent and popularity earned her recognition in her time.
Another notable figure was Pinkey Walker (1889-1965), an African American baseball player who played in the Negro leagues during the early 20th century. He was a skilled outfielder and played for several teams, including the Kansas City Monarchs and the Chicago American Giants.
In the field of literature, Pinkey Strother (1904-1982) was an American author and poet known for her works that explored the African American experience. Her book "The Fawn," published in 1942, received critical acclaim and brought her national recognition.
Pinkey Thompson (1921-2003) was a renowned jazz pianist and composer from the United States. He was a prominent figure in the Kansas City jazz scene and collaborated with several notable musicians throughout his career.
Lastly, Pinkey Gordon (1937-2016) was a British actress and singer who gained popularity in the 1960s and 1970s. She appeared in various television shows and musicals, showcasing her talents on stage and screen.
While the name Pinkey may have fallen out of widespread use in modern times, its historical roots and the notable individuals who bore this name have left an indelible mark on various fields, from entertainment to sports and literature.
People
Pinkey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Pinkey 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
Pinkey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Pinkey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 104 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Pinkey 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 3,295,715 US residents.
Is Pinkey a common name?
We classify Pinkey as "Very Rare". It ranks above 65.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 585 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Pinkey most popular?
The single biggest year for Pinkey was 1910, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Pinkey is about 77 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Pinkey in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 208 people with the name Pinkey, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #37,486 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 Pinkey 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 Pinkey?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Pinkey leans strongly female. 177 people counted with this name were female (86.8%), compared with 27 male bearers (13.2%). 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 Pinkey?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Pinkey is Black at 65.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (16.3%) and White (12.0%). 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 Pinkey most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Pinkey in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.4% (136 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 Pinkey in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Pinkey a female name?
Yes, 99.0% of people registered as Pinkey 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 Pinkey still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Pinkey 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 Pinkey 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 have Pinkey as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.