How Many People Are Named Penelope Smith?
There are approximately 755 people named Penelope Smith living in the United States today. That makes this name combination uncommon, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 453,979 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Penelope with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Smith. 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
755
1 in 453,979 Americans
Combination Rarity
Uncommon
First Name
View full profilePenelope
Last Name
View full profileSmith
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.
Ancestry of 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 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.
Ancestry of the Smith Surname
The surname Smith 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 Smith 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.
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 "Smith" appears at a rate of 792.79 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 755 estimated people. This assumes first names and last names are statistically independent. Full methodology.
Other people named Penelope
Other people with the surname Smith
Penelope Smith: Questions and Answers
How many people are named Penelope Smith?
We estimate approximately 755 people named Penelope Smith are alive in the United States today. The first name Penelope is shared by 95,267 Americans, and the surname Smith is shared by 2,717,332.
How rare is the name Penelope Smith?
This name combination is classified as Uncommon, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 453,979 Americans. The first name Penelope is uncommon and the surname Smith 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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