Penny

What Penny means

Diminutive of Penelope, possibly meaning “duck”

diminutive of the female given name Penelope || From Ancient Greek Πηνελόπη (Pēnelópē), possibly from πηνέλοψ (pēnélops, “duck”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Penny” (revision 94542516) and “Penelope” (revision 93750428), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Penny?

US: Steady: #757 in 2015, #740 now. England & Wales: Falling: down from #183 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1963, when 5,129 girls got the name (#86 that year). First in the US records in 1882.

How common

• About 1 in 4,368 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 1,260 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 716 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in UT (1.52 per 1,000 girls), ID (1.4 per 1,000 girls), OR (0.69 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Penny is #740 in the US and #232 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Penny were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

If you like Penny

Girls

• Rosalie#171“rose”^*
• Alice#65“noble + character”^*
• Jane#221“God is gracious”^*
• June#150From the word “name”^*
• Elowyn#299Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #2,619 in 2015, #299 in 2025
• Everleigh#194“wild boar + woodland clearing”^*

For a brother

• Dean#125“valley”^*
• Elliott#160“my God is Yahweh”^*
• Weston#55Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #120 in 2015, #55 in 2025
• Graham#120“gravel + homestead”^*
• Elliot#151Variant of Elliott, meaning “my God is Yahweh”^*
• Harvey#251“iron + blazing”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under where there are enough, topped up with common names whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Penny’s. Place names are only included if they are in the top 300. Rank is US 2025.