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

Penman, 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 Penman surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Penman in America

Penman is the 14787th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Penman surname appeared 2,007 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Penman.

We can also compare 2010 data for Penman 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 Penman

The surname Penman is of English origin and derives from the occupation of a professional scribe or clerk in medieval times. It is a compound word formed from the elements 'pen' and 'man', referring to someone who made a living by writing with a pen.

Historically, Penman was predominantly found in various counties across England, including Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Lincolnshire. The earliest recorded instances of the name can be traced back to the late 13th century, with one of the earliest known bearers being William le Penman, mentioned in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire in 1275.

During the 14th and 15th centuries, the name appeared in various ecclesiastical and legal records, such as the Calendars of Wills and the Feet of Fines. One notable example is John Penman, a clerk from Yorkshire, who is mentioned in the Calendars of Wills in 1392.

In the 16th century, the Penman surname gained further prominence. Thomas Penman, born in 1535 in Lincolnshire, was a renowned scholar and writer who authored several works on mathematics and astronomy. Another prominent figure was William Penman, a merchant from London, who is recorded in the Subsidy Rolls of 1592.

As the centuries progressed, the Penman name continued to be well-represented across various fields. In the 18th century, James Penman (1709-1779) was a Scottish minister and author, known for his work "A New and Compendious System of Shorthand." Meanwhile, in the 19th century, John Penman (1838-1912) was a prominent English architect responsible for designing several notable buildings in London.

Other notable bearers of the Penman surname include Sir John Penman (1864-1941), a Scottish businessman and philanthropist, and Lewis Penman (1898-1971), an American artist known for his landscape paintings of the American West.

While the name Penman has its roots in England, it has since spread to other parts of the world, including Scotland, Ireland, and the United States, where descendants of early English and Scottish migrants have carried on the legacy of this historic surname.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Penman

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

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 Penman 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 Penman 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 Penman was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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