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

Penton, 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 Penton surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Penton in America

Penton is the 9760th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Penton surname appeared 3,321 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 Penton.

We can also compare 2010 data for Penton 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 Penton

The surname PENTON is of English origin and is believed to have derived from a place name in Hampshire, England. The earliest recorded spelling of the name dates back to the 12th century, where it appeared as "Pentone" in the Pipe Rolls of Hampshire in 1195.

PENTON is thought to be a locational name, referring to someone who originally hailed from the hamlet of Penton Mewsey, located near the town of Andover in Hampshire. The name is derived from the Old English words "pent" meaning "valley" and "tun" meaning "enclosure" or "settlement".

One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was John de Penton, who was mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Wiltshire in 1273. Another early record is found in the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex in 1327, which lists a William Penton.

The PENTON surname has a long history, and several notable individuals have borne this name throughout the centuries. Sir John Penton (1486-1558) was an English politician who served as Lord Mayor of London in 1537. Henry Penton (1675-1745) was an English lawyer and author, best known for his work "A Guide for the Instruction of Travellers".

In the 17th century, the PENTON family was well-established in the county of Somerset, England. One member of this family, Thomas Penton (1608-1667), was a distinguished English clergyman and theologian who served as the Rector of Compton Beauchamp in Berkshire.

Another notable bearer of the PENTON name was Sir Henry Penton (1797-1876), a British naval officer who served in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. He later became an Admiral of the Red and was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1865.

Moving into the 19th century, John Penton (1830-1902) was a British architect who designed several notable buildings in London, including the Royal College of Music and the Royal Albert Hall. His contemporary, Joseph Penton (1834-1908), was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Middlesex County Cricket Club.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Penton

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

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

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

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