How Many People Are Named Penelope?
An estimated 95,267 people in the United States have the first name Penelope. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 16 years old, and Penelope peaked in popularity in 2019 with 6,733 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Penelope as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Penelope paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Penelope is overwhelmingly female, 53 male births have been registered with this name since 1880.
- Penelope is a modern name. With an average bearer age of just 16, it has gained most of its popularity in recent years.
Estimated Living Americans
95,267
About 1 in 3,598 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Female
99.9% confidence
Average Age
16
years old
Peak Year
2019
6,733 births
Total Registered
103,268
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Penelope
Penelope is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 103,268 total births registered, 99.9% were female.
Penelope as a male name
Ranked #11,935 in 2024
6 male births in 2024
Peak: 2021 (10 births)
Penelope as a female name
Ranked #28 in 2024
5,741 female births in 2024
Peak: 2019 (6,733 births)
Penelope: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Penelope span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 2010s, when 47,634 babies were registered. While Penelope is less common than at its peak in the 2010s, it remains a well-established name with steady registrations.
Penelope by Decade
How has Penelope tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
Penelope by State
Birth registrations for Penelope span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, Texas, New York. The lowest are in Wyoming, Vermont, South Dakota. On average, about 1,945 Penelopes were registered per state.
Penelope + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Penelope as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Penelope
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
Penelope: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Penelope?
We estimate approximately 95,267 people named Penelope are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 3,598 Americans share this first name.
Is Penelope a common name?
Penelope is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 99.5% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 103,268 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Penelope most popular?
Penelope reached peak popularity in 2019, when 6,733 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Penelope is approximately 16 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Penelope a female name?
Penelope is predominantly female. 99.9% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Penelope Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Penelope Smith, Penelope Johnson, Penelope Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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