2000
#12,096
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,366
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.88
Rare Last name
Penna
A surname of Italian or Portuguese origin meaning "feather" or "quill pen".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,797 Americans carry the last name Penna. That puts it at #12,190 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.82 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 122,544 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Penna surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Penna with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.8K
1 in 122,544
Census rank
#12,190
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.4K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,439 bearers of the surname Penna in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.82 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 12190th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Penna, the largest self-reported group is White at 79.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.2%) and Two or More Races (2.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Penna
The surname Penna has its origins in Italy, dating back to the medieval period. It is believed to have derived from the Italian word "penna," which means "feather" or "pen." This suggests that the name may have been initially associated with individuals involved in the production or trade of feathers or writing implements.
The earliest recorded instances of the Penna surname can be traced back to the 13th century in various regions of Italy, including Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna, and Umbria. Some historical documents from this period mention individuals with variations of the name, such as Pennacchi and Pennacchini.
One notable historical figure bearing the Penna surname was Giovanni Battista Penna, a renowned Italian painter who lived from 1548 to 1624. He was known for his religious artworks and frescoes adorning churches in Rome and other Italian cities.
Another prominent individual with this surname was Gian Lorenzo Penna, an Italian architect and engineer who lived from 1658 to 1708. He was responsible for designing several notable buildings in Rome, including the Church of Sant'Andrea al Quirinale.
In the 18th century, Giuseppe Penna, an Italian mathematician and astronomer, made significant contributions to the field of celestial mechanics. He was born in 1714 and lived until 1798.
During the Renaissance period, the Penna family was known to have connections with the influential Medici family in Florence. Some records from this time mention a Francesco Penna, who served as a courtier and advisor to the Medici rulers.
The name Penna has also been associated with various place names in Italy, such as Penna San Giovanni, a town in the Marche region, and Penna in Teverina, a municipality in the province of Terni. These place names may have influenced the surname's origin and spread throughout different regions of the country.
While the Penna surname has its roots in Italy, it has since spread to other parts of the world, including the United States, Canada, and South America, due to Italian immigration in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Penna
Among Census respondents with the surname Penna, the largest self-reported group is White at 79.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.2%) and Two or More Races (2.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Penna bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Penna surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White79.3% · 1,935
- Hispanic or Latino14.2% · 346
- Two or more races2.8% · 69
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.4% · 58
- Black or African American0.9% · 23
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 8
Timeline
Historical Census data for Penna
Penna appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#16,616
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,726
-640 bearers (-27.0%)
Per 100,000 0.59
Rank movement Down 4,520 places
2020
#12,190
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,439
+713 bearers (+41.3%)
Per 100,000 0.82
Rank movement Up 4,426 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #12,096 | 2,366 | 0.88 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #16,616 | 1,726 | 0.59 | -640 bearers (-27.0%) | Down 4,520 places |
| 2020 | #12,190 | 2,439 | 0.82 | +713 bearers (+41.3%) | Up 4,426 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Penna surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #16,616 | #12,190 | 26.6% |
| Count | 1,726 | 2,439 | 41.3% |
| Per 100K | 0.59 | 0.82 | 38.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Penna bearers went from 1,726 to 2,439 (+41.3% change). The surname moved up 4,426 positions in the national ranking, going from #16,616 to #12,190.
FAQ
Penna surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Penna?
Name Census estimates that about 2,797 living Americans carry the surname Penna. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 122,544 residents.
How common is Penna?
Penna ranks #12,190 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.82 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,439 people with the surname Penna. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,797), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.82 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.82 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Penna.
Has Penna become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Penna went from 1,726 recorded bearers to 2,439. That is an increase of 713 (+41.3%). In the national ranking it rose from #16,616 to #12,190.
What does the Census say about the background of Penna?
Among Census respondents with the surname Penna, the largest self-reported group is White at 79.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.2%) and Two or More Races (2.8%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Penna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.3% (1,935 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Penna appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (79.3%), Hispanic (14.2%), Two or More Races (2.8%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Penna (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Penna mean?
A surname of Italian or Portuguese origin meaning "feather" or "quill pen". The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Penna (0.82 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many Americans have the surname Penna?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.