PENFOLD
Penfold is an English surname of Anglo‑Saxon provenance. The name is derived from the Old English elements pen, meaning a hill, and fold, meaning an enclosure or fenced area for animals. It is therefore a locational surname that indicates the original bearers lived near or on a hill that contained such an enclosure. In some early records the surname appears as Pinfold and Pundfold, reflecting variations in the medieval spelling of the Old English word pundfald, a term for a pound or walled enclosure used to hold stray animals, vagrants and occasionally travelling groups.
The earliest surviving mention of a person bearing the name is in the 1273 Subsidy Rolls of Suffolk, where a Robert del Punfold is recorded. This precedes the appearance of the surname in the 1275 Hundred Rolls of Sussex and Oxfordshire, where individuals named Philip de la Pundfold and Roger de la Pundfaude are listed as landowners. Subsequent medieval documents reference Thomas ate Pundfolde (1296) and John Pennefold (1332). In the early modern period, a record of the christening of Ann Pinfold appears in St. Dunstan’s, Stepney, London, on 24 January 1590. The first marriage involving a Penfold is recorded on 28 March 1665, when An(n) Penfold and Hendory Smith were joined at Sunbury on Thames.
Historically, the surname has been predominantly associated with the southern counties of England, although it appears in various other parts of the British Isles. In contemporary England the highest concentrations are found in the East Midlands, with notable numbers in the cities and districts of Milton Keynes, Leicester, Northampton, and Coventry. The name is also present in Welsh townships such as Cardiff, Aberdare, Merthyr Tydfil, and Barry, and in Scottish councils including Edinburgh and its surrounding neighbourhoods. In Northern Ireland the surname is reported in and around Belfast and its suburbs. Across the United Kingdom it remains a relatively uncommon name, yet its frequencies have shown a modest increase over the past century.
Spelling variations are frequent in historical records, reflecting the lack of orthographic standardisation before the advent of modern spelling conventions. Common variants of the surname include Penfolds, Penforeld, Pandall, Penfowld, Pinfold, Penfoeld, Pendle and occasionally Penfould. These differences often correlate with regional pronunciation differences; for example, a family residing in Yorkshire may have spelled the name Pendle, while a family in Cornwall might have used Penfoeld, and a family in Gloucester could have written Penfowld. The diversity of orthography is therefore considered a normal feature of early modern surname usage rather than an indicator of distinct lineage.
The Penfold surname is linked to other English surnames that share the root pen, such as Penton, Penny, Penrose, Pennant, and Penman. These surnames likewise arise from Old English terms relating to a hill or an enclosure, but the individual families are distinct and the connections are primarily linguistic rather than genealogical.
Typical given names associated with the Penfold surname
Male
- Andrew
- Christopher
- David
- James
- John
- Mark
- Michael
- Peter
- Robert
- Stephen
Female
- Christine
- Donna
- Elizabeth
- Jacqueline
- Julie
- Karen
- Lisa
- Margaret
- Mary
- Patricia
- Sarah
- Susan
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Penfold in...
Braille
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Morse
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Semaphore
There are approximately 6,303 people named Penfold in the UK. That makes it roughly the 1,505th most common surname in Britain. Around 97 in a million people in Britain are named Penfold.
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Penfold
- Peter Penfold - Diplomat
- Mark Penfold - Professional football player
- Morgan Penfold - Football player
- Alexander Penfold - Cricketer (1901 to 1982)
- John Penfold - Architect (1828 to 1909)
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.