Pennock last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Pennock

A surname of English origin referring to someone who lived near a hill or beacon.

Pennock, 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 Pennock surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Pennock in America

Pennock is the 12745th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Pennock surname appeared 2,421 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 Pennock.

We can also compare 2010 data for Pennock 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 12745 12221 4.20%
Count 2,421 2,337 3.53%
Proportion per 100k 0.82 0.87 -5.92%

The history of the last name Pennock

The surname Pennock is of English origin, and it first appeared in the county of Lancashire during the 13th century. It is believed to have derived from the Old English words "penn" meaning a hill or pen, and "ac" meaning an oak, suggesting that the name may have originally referred to someone who lived near an oak tree on a hill.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Pennock surname can be found in the Chartulary of Whalley Abbey, a medieval manuscript dating back to the 14th century. This document mentions a certain William Pennock, who lived in the village of Pendleton near Manchester.

During the 16th century, the Pennock family established themselves in the village of Samlesbury, also in Lancashire. The parish registers of Samlesbury Church contain numerous entries for individuals with the Pennock surname from this period.

In the 17th century, the Pennocks began to spread across England, with several members of the family settling in the county of Yorkshire. One notable figure from this time was Robert Pennock, born in 1617, who became a prominent Quaker preacher and author.

As the Pennock family continued to grow and disperse, they left their mark in various regions of England. In the 18th century, a branch of the family settled in the town of Leyland, Lancashire, where they played a significant role in the local community. John Pennock, born in 1732, served as a respected magistrate and landowner in the area.

The 19th century saw the Pennock surname spread even further, with members of the family migrating to other parts of the world, particularly North America. One such individual was Samuel Pennock, born in 1793 in Yorkshire, who emigrated to the United States and became a successful businessman in Philadelphia.

Throughout its long history, the Pennock surname has been associated with a number of notable figures across various fields. These include William Pennock, born in 1815, who was a prominent English architect responsible for designing several churches and public buildings in the Victorian era, and Mary Pennock, born in 1860, an American author and educator who wrote extensively on social and educational reform.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Pennock

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

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 Pennock was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 92.44% 2,238
Non-Hispanic Black Only 2.52% 61
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.41% 10
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 1.40% 34
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 1.40% 34
Hispanic Origin 1.82% 44

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 Pennock has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 92.44% 93.80% -1.46%
Black 2.52% 1.71% 38.30%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.41% (S)% (S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 1.40% 1.93% -31.83%
Two or More Races 1.40% (S)% (S)%
Hispanic 1.82% 1.41% 25.39%

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

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

Reference this page

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"Pennock last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on November 22, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/pennock-surname-popularity/.

"Pennock last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/pennock-surname-popularity/. Accessed 22 November, 2024

Pennock last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/pennock-surname-popularity/.

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