How Many People Are Named Penelope Jones?

There are approximately 441 people named Penelope Jones living in the United States today. That makes this name combination uncommon, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 777,221 Americans.

This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Penelope with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Jones. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census background data where it is available.

Estimated People with This Name

441

1 in 777,221 Americans

Combination Rarity

Uncommon

Very Rare Very Common

First Name

Penelope

Last Name

Jones

Est. Bearers 1,586,209

Census Rank #5

Per 100K 462.78

Rarity Very Common

Penelope: Popularity Over Time

Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Penelope. The peak year was 2019 with 6,733 births. The average person named Penelope today is 16 years old.

Male

Female

Ancestry of the First Name Penelope

These percentages describe the people who had the first name Penelope in the 2020 Census. They do not tell you the deeper origin or meaning of the name itself.

Read this as a snapshot of who already had the name in 2020, not as a trend line. The SSA chart above is still the better way to see how Penelope rose or fell over time.

White

63.88%

Black

2.81%

Hispanic

24.25%

Asian/Pacific Islander

2.39%

American Indian/Alaska Native

0.58%

Two or More Races

6.09%

Ancestry of the Jones Surname

The surname Jones was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White in the 2020 Census.

This is a self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people who had the surname Jones in the published Census surname tables. It gives useful context around who was recorded with the name, but it does not tell the full family history of every Boone line.

White

53.06%

Black

37.22%

Hispanic

3.35%

Asian/Pacific Islander

0.59%

American Indian/Alaska Native

0.91%

Two or More Races

4.87%

How we calculated this

The first name "Penelope" has an estimated frequency of 0.0278% among living Americans, based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024 adjusted for mortality using CDC 2023 life tables.

The surname "Jones" appears at a rate of 462.78 per 100,000 people in the 2020 U.S. Census.

We do not use the Census first-name snapshot for the main estimate because it is only published once every 10 years. The latest public first-name Census file is from 2020, which is already 6 years old. SSA birth records plus CDC survival data give a better current estimate of how many people with the first name Penelope are likely to be alive now.

Multiplying these frequencies against the U.S. population of ~343 million gives 441 estimated people. This assumes first names and last names are statistically independent. Full methodology.

Other people named Penelope

Penelope Smith Penelope Johnson Penelope Williams Penelope Brown Penelope Garcia Penelope Miller Penelope Cruz

Other people with the surname Jones

Michael Jones James Jones John Jones David Jones Robert Jones William Jones Christopher Jones Joseph Jones

Penelope Jones: Questions and Answers

How many people are named Penelope Jones?

We estimate approximately 441 people named Penelope Jones are alive in the United States today. The first name Penelope is shared by 95,267 Americans, and the surname Jones is shared by 1,586,209.

How rare is the name Penelope Jones?

This name combination is classified as Uncommon, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 777,221 Americans. The first name Penelope is uncommon and the surname Jones is very common.

Is Penelope a male or female name?

Penelope is predominantly female, with 0.1% of bearers being male and 99.9% female. It peaked in popularity in 2019 and the average bearer today is 16 years old.

What does the Census say about the first name Penelope?

In the 2020 Census, the first name Penelope was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White (63.88%). The next largest recorded groups were Hispanic (24.25%) and Two or More Races (6.09%). These percentages describe the people who had the name in the 2020 Census, not the deeper origin of the name itself.

Where does this data come from?

First name data comes from the Social Security Administration (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables. When available, first-name Census background data comes from the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau first-name tables. Surname data comes from the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau. Full methodology.

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