Penelope
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Meaning
traditionally "weaver," after the wife in the Odyssey who unwove her loom each night to hold off suitors, though the root may be an old word for a duck; four syllables of loyal, literary charm that clip to Penny and Poppy
Say it: puh-NEL-uh-pee
Goes by Nell, Pen, Penny, Poppy. See all nicknames
The story
Penelope survives the Odyssey by controlling time. Pressured to choose among the suitors occupying her home while Odysseus is away, she promises to decide after finishing a burial shroud. She weaves by day and secretly unpicks the work at night, holding them off for years. The trick has encouraged a tempting derivation from Greek words for thread and face, but the name may instead come from penelops, a kind of duck. The uncertain etymology does not diminish the character's intelligence. Penelope listens, tests strangers, guards her household, and refuses to let other people set the terms of recognition. Penélope carries the Spanish accent; Penny is the familiar short form in English. The name is often praised for patience, but patience sounds too passive for what she does. Penelope creates room to think, and when the moment comes, she makes even her returned husband prove who he is.
Penelope in song
Penélope
Joan Manuel Serrat (1969)
Serrat's Penélope waits at the station, year after year, for the love who promised to return. When he finally does, she does not recognise him, and turns him away. Lyric by Serrat, music by Augusto Algueró, and the name is borrowed straight from Homer.
How popular is Penelope around the world?
In the United States, 37,031 babies were named Penelope between 2020 and 2025. In England and Wales, 1,174 girls named Penelope were born in 2025, the 33rd most common name among girls that year.
Penelope is on the official records of the United States, England and Wales, South Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Scotland, New South Wales, Ireland, Puerto Rico, Austria, Spain, Brazil, Poland, France and Argentina.
United States
1 in 590
In the United States, 37,031 babies were named Penelope between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Penelope peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
England and Wales
1 in 500
In England and Wales, 1,174 girls named Penelope were born in 2025, the 33rd most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
South Australia
1 in 6102017
In South Australia, 30 girls were registered as Penelope in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
New Zealand
1 in 790
In New Zealand, 73 girls named Penelope were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Canada
1 in 870
In Canada, 422 girls named Penelope were born in 2024, the 49th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
Scotland
1 in 900
In Scotland, 51 girls named Penelope were registered in 2024, the 81st most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
New South Wales
#41 · 2025
In New South Wales, 153 girls named Penelope were registered in 2025, ranked 41st in that year’s top 100 for girls.
share of that year’s top-100 registrations
New South Wales (not all of Australia) publishes only each year’s 100 most popular names per sex, so a missing year means below that top 100, not rare. Source: NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, popular baby names
Ireland
1 in 1,700
In Ireland, 31 girls named Penelope were born in 2025, the 148th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Puerto Rico
1 in 2,300
In Puerto Rico, 8 babies were named Penelope in 2025, and 224 have carried the name since 1998.
share of that year’s births on record
First given name only, from Social Security records of births in Puerto Rico; any name-sex-year under 5 births is withheld at source. Shares divide by the Puerto Rico Demographic Registry’s count of births on the island; the 2025 count is provisional. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, territory name file (Puerto Rico)
Austria
1 in 6,300
In Austria, 12 girls named Penelope were born in 2025, the 408th most common name among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
share of that year’s births on record
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Spain
1 in 30,000
In Spain, 1,506 residents are named Penelope, ranked 1,151st among women, with a mean age of 35.9 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Brazil
1 in 71,000
At the 2022 census, 2,781 people in Brazil were named Penelope, ranked 4,098th, with a median age of 12.
Among people named Penelope living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 432 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Poland
1 in 120,000
In Poland, 2 girls named Penelope were born in 2025, the 706th most common name among girls that year.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. This registry counts each spelling separately; the figures above are for the exact spelling Penelope, and accented spellings are separate names. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)
France
1 in 130,000
In France, about 5 girls named Penelope were born in 2025, ranked 3,992nd among girls that year.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. This registry counts each spelling separately; the figures above are for the exact spelling Penelope, and accented spellings are separate names. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)
Argentina
1 in 220,000
In Argentina, 3 newborns were given the name Penelope in 2024.
share of that year’s name registrations
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Chile
last on record 2020
Penelope is not on the 2021 record for Chile, where nametree keeps the spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021
Mexico City City
last on record 2021
Penelope is not on the 2022 record for Mexico City, where small counts are withheld at source.
share of that year’s registrations in the city
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Montevideo City
last on record 2010
Penelope is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 9 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Penelope
Most people given the name Penelope in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
Names like Penelope · Names that go with Penelope · Nicknames for Penelope · Middle names for Penelope · Greek baby names
The Penelope deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Penelope truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Penelope fits with your family’s names and surname.
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