People with the first name Penelope
65,806
About 1 in 5,037 Americans had this first name in the 2020 Census.
Measured, privacy-protected national Census count—not a total of historical baby-name records.
U.S. first-name statistics
How common is Penelope?
Penelope was the #763 most frequent first name in the 2020 Census.
National rank
#763
More common than 98.6% of listed first names
Peak year
2019
6,734 SSA-recorded births
2025 births
6,225
#67 across first names
Census frequency
1 in 5,037
Across the 2020 U.S. population
Sex distribution
Reported in the 2020 Census first-name table.
0.1% male99.9% female
Demographic distribution
Aggregated race and Hispanic-origin reporting in the 2020 Census name table.
Reading the result
Penelope across two different records
The Census count answers “how many people had this name?” using a national snapshot of living residents in 2020. The SSA series answers “when was this name popular?” using Social Security card applications associated with births.
Penelope reached its highest published annual SSA count in 2019, with 6,734 recorded births. In 2025, SSA recorded 6,225 babies with the name.
Names do not determine a person’s identity. Demographic percentages above describe national aggregates and should never be applied to an individual.
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