PENNEY
Penney is a surname of English origin that developed from the medieval personal name Penig, meaning “penny” in Old English. The term was originally a nickname for an individual who was either thrifty, involved in the handling of money, or regarded as valuable in a manner comparable to a silver coin.
The name derives from the pre‑7th‑century word penig and its Middle English form peni. During the early medieval period the penny was the sole unit of coinage in England and carried considerable weight in everyday life: it was a silver coin of value and not merely a token, a fact which is reflected in the use of the word as a byname in the twentieth‑third century of the Common Era.
Recorded spellings include Penny, Pinney, and the modern form Penney. The earliest archival references are from the late twelfth century, such as Ailnoth Peni in the Curia Regis Rolls of Surrey in 1204 and William Peny in the Assize Court Rolls of Shropshire in 1221. Later records from London churches include the christening of Henry Pynnye at St. Margaret’s, Westminster, on 10 September 1552, and Rachell Pinney at St. Giles Cripplegate on 5 November 1593.
The surname has several documented variants, including Penney, Pennie, Pennay, Pennye, Penne, and Penn. A French linguistic tradition links the name to the surname de Penne meaning “from the peak,” contributing the variants de Penney and Peney. In the northern parts of Scotland the name is associated with the Clan Peney, descended from Robert Peny of St. Andrews.
Geographically, families bearing the surname have been concentrated in the western counties of England from the Middle Ages onward. Census data from 2017 in the United Kingdom show a high density of the name in the north west, particularly around the Lake District and Cumbria, with a notable presence in London and the South East. In Ireland there is a concentration in the Dublin area, and in the United States the surname is most commonly found in Pennsylvania, especially the south‑east part of the state, where 1,371 individuals were recorded in the 2000 census. In Canada, the surname was introduced to Nova Scotia by immigrants from Northern Ireland in 1851. The distribution of Penney remains widespread across the United Kingdom, Ireland, North America, and other English‑speaking regions, though its frequency has declined somewhat over recent decades.
An individual of historical note bearing the surname is Charles Pinney, who served as Lord Mayor of Bristol in 1831 and was involved in the reading of the Riot Act on three occasions. In the commercial sector, James Cash Penney, the founder of the retail chain J.C. Penney, is a prominent American bearer of the name.
Typical given names associated with the Penney surname
Male
- Andrew
- Christopher
- David
- James
- John
- Michael
- Richard
- Robert
- Stephen
- William
Female
- Claire
- Elaine
- Elizabeth
- Emma
- Helen
- Joanne
- Margaret
- Marie
- Mary
- Samantha
- 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 Penney in...
Braille
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Morse
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Semaphore
There are approximately 3,638 people named Penney in the UK. That makes it roughly the 2,538th most common surname in Britain. Around 56 in a million people in Britain are named Penney.
Surname type: Nickname
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Penney
- William Penney, Baron Penney - Mathematician and physicist (1909 to 1991)
- Matt Penney - Football player
- Dave Penney - Football player and manager
- Raymond Penney - Rower (1937 to 1992)
- Steve Penney - Northern Irish football player
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.