Find out how popular the last name Penister is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Penister.

Penister, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Penister surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Penister in America

Penister is the 138304th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Penister surname appeared 121 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Penister.

We can also compare 2010 data for Penister to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Penister

The surname Penister originated in England, with roots tracing back to the medieval period. It is believed to be a locational name, derived from a now-lost place name. One theory suggests it may have originated from the Old English word "pen," meaning a hill or enclosure, combined with a personal name or other descriptive element.

Early recorded instances of the Penister surname can be found in various historical documents from the 13th and 14th centuries. For example, a John de Penister is mentioned in the Subsidy Rolls for Staffordshire in 1327. This indicates that the name was already well-established in certain regions of England by that time.

During the 16th century, the surname appeared in the parish records of several counties, including Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. One notable individual was William Penister, a landowner from Yorkshire who was born in 1542 and died in 1612.

In the 17th century, the Penister family had a presence in various parts of England, with some members contributing to the settlement of the American colonies. One such individual was John Penister, who was born in Gloucestershire in 1625 and later emigrated to Virginia, where he became a prominent landowner.

The 18th century saw the rise of a few notable figures with the Penister surname. Thomas Penister (1702-1778) was a wealthy merchant and landowner from Oxfordshire, while James Penister (1745-1819) was a respected scholar and educator who taught at Cambridge University.

In the 19th century, the Penister name gained further recognition with the life and work of Sir Robert Penister (1820-1892), a renowned architect who designed several iconic buildings in London, including the Royal Opera House.

Throughout history, the Penister surname has undergone various spelling variations, such as Pennister, Pennester, and Penester, reflecting the regional dialects and preferences of different areas of England.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Penister

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Penister.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Penister was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Penister has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Penister was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Penister, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!