Penelope

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Πηνελοπη in CY Cyprus.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 14 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Penelope is also recorded as 4 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• a separate given name12K records spelled Penelope4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Italy

  Also written Pénélope, Penélope, Pēnelopē

• English (South Africa) given name645 records spelled Penelope2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in South Africa, United Kingdom

  Also written Penelopé

• Korean given name323 records spelled Penelope3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, South Korea, United Kingdom, North Korea

  Also written Pénélope, Penélope

• Bulgarian given name315 records spelled Penelope25 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Bulgaria, Croatia

  Languages: Bulgarian, Croatian, Serbian

  Also written Penelopa, Пенелопа, Penélope, Пенелопи, Pénélope

58 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Penelope is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, The faithful wife of Odysseus.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Spanish, del griego Pēnelopē; etimología incierta, tradicionalmente ligada a 'tela' por etimología popular.

  as a name·Diccionario etimológico de nombres propios

• In French, Du grec, lié à Pénélopé, épouse d’Ulysse; symbole de fidélité conjugale.

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

• In English, faithful wife of Odysseus; pers.

  as a name·Pronouncing Dictionary of Proper Names

• In Swedish, Se Penny.

  as a name·Förnamn i Sverige. Kortfattat namnlexikon

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 132 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Julie Vlastob. 1903FRnot in their usual nameFrench tennis player (1903-1985)
• Penelope Fitzgeraldb. 1916GBBritish writer and poet (1916–2000)
• Penelope Livelyb. 1933GBBritish novelist (born 1933)
• Penelope Spheerisb. 1945USAmerican filmmaker
• Penelope Wiltonb. 1946GBEnglish actress
• Penelope Milfordb. 1948USAmerican actress
• Jane Seymourb. 1951GBnot in their usual nameBritish actress
• Penelope Ann Millerb. 1964USAmerican actress
• Penny Mordauntb. 1973GBnot in their usual nameBritish politician (born 1973)
• Penélope Cruzb. 1974ESSpanish actress (born 1974)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,022 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Penelope?

We estimate roughly 74 thousand people bear Penelope (counting its spellings and scripts) across 8 countries in our records.

In which country does Penelope have the most bearers?

We estimate about 66 thousand people bear Penelope in the United States, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled penelope.

Where is Penelope most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Penelope is densest in Cyprus — about 1 in 2.3 thousand people — even though United States holds more of our records for it.

How common is Penelope compared with other names?

In the Dominican Republic, Penelope is the 222nd most common given name of 21,384 given names recorded there.

Is Penelope a male or female name?

Penelope is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Penelope mean?

Recorded meaning: Greek name of uncertain meaning; in Ireland used to anglicise Finola.