Penny
A feminine name of Germanic origin meaning "little one" or "weaver".
Name Census estimates that about 76,287 living Americans carry the first name Penny. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Penny today is around 59 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Penny births was 1963 (5,141 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Penny. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Penny with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Penny is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 384 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
76K
~ 1 in 4,493 Americans
Peak year
1963
5,141 babies that year
Average age
59
years old
1974 SSA rank
#747
Tracked since 1882
Census
Penny in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 81,502 people with the first name Penny, which placed it at #646 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#646
National first-name rank
People counted
82K
81,502 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
27.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
88.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Penny
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Penny is White at 88.8%. The next largest groups are Black (4.0%) and Two or More Races (3.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Penny 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 name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Penny at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.8% · 72,400
- Black or African American4.0% · 3,243
- Two or more races3.0% · 2,422
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 1,602
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 1,227
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 608
Gender
Gender distribution for Penny
Out of the 100,631 babies given the name Penny since 1880, 99.6% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Penny as a male name
- Ranked #4,506 in 1974
- 7 male births in 1974
- Peak: 1962 (26 births)
Penny as a female name
- Ranked #747 in 2024
- 376 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1963 (5,127 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Penny appears almost entirely female. Of the 81,497 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Penny: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Penny from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 38,351 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Penny by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Penny during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Pennys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Ohio, Illinois recorded the most babies named Penny, while Alaska, Rhode Island, Nevada recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,891 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Penny
The name Penny is derived from the English word "penning" or "pening," which was a medieval term for a small amount of money, specifically a penny. The name's origins can be traced back to the Anglo-Norman period in England, around the 11th to 13th centuries.
In medieval times, a penny was a significant sum, and the name Penny likely emerged as a nickname or a term of endearment for someone small, precious, or valuable. It was initially used as a surname before transitioning to a feminine given name.
One of the earliest recorded instances of Penny as a given name dates back to the 16th century. In 1558, a woman named Penny Darwent was born in Yorkshire, England. Her name appears in parish records from that time.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Penny. One of the most famous is Penny Chenery (1922-2017), the American businesswoman and horse breeder who owned the legendary racehorse Secretariat. Chenery's determination and success in the male-dominated world of horse racing made her a pioneering figure.
Another notable Penny is Penny Marshall (1943-2018), the American actress, director, and producer. She starred in the popular television series Laverne & Shirley and directed successful films like Big and A League of Their Own.
In the realm of literature, Penny Vincenzi (1939-2018) was a popular English novelist known for her family sagas and romantic fiction. Her novels, such as An Absolute Scandal and No Angel, were bestsellers.
The name Penny also has historical connections to the world of sports. Penny Oleksiak (born 2000) is a Canadian swimmer who won four medals, including one gold, at the 2016 Rio Olympics at the age of 16, making her one of Canada's youngest Olympic champions.
Another notable figure is Penny Mordaunt (born 1973), a British politician and the current Leader of the House of Commons. She has held various cabinet positions and is known for her work on issues related to the armed forces and equality.
While the name Penny may have humble origins, it has been borne by a diverse array of influential and accomplished individuals throughout history, reflecting its enduring appeal and versatility.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Penny
People
Penny + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Penny as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with P
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Penny: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Penny?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 76,287 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Penny going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 4,493 US residents.
Is Penny a common name?
We classify Penny as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 100,631 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Penny most popular?
The single biggest year for Penny was 1963, when 5,141 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Penny is about 59 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Penny in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 81,502 people with the name Penny, or 26.98 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #646 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Penny in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Penny?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Penny appears almost entirely female. Of the 81,497 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Penny?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Penny is White at 88.8%. The next largest groups are Black (4.0%) and Two or More Races (3.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Penny most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Penny in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.8% (72,400 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Penny in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Penny a female name?
Yes, 99.6% of people registered as Penny in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Penny still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Penny in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Penny can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Penny?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.