PENNINGTON
Pennington is a surname of English origin, classified as a locational name derived from several settlements bearing the same designation within the British Isles. The name first appears in written records as early as the eleventh and fourteenth centuries, evidencing a long-standing presence within England.
The etymology of Pennington centres on Old English lexical roots. The element pening translates as “penny”, a term used historically to denote a unit of royal tribute or tax imposed upon land. The second element, tun, means “enclosure”, “farm” or “settlement”. Therefore, Pennington originally signified a person living near or associated with a penny‑enclosure, a site where rents or dues were collected for the Crown.
Three principal locations give rise to the surname. The first two, Pennington in Hampshire and Pennington near Ulverston in the historic county of Cumberland, are recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Penningetun. The third, a Pennington in the parish of Leigh, Lancashire, appears in the 1246 Assize Court Rolls under the variants Pinington and Pynington. In this Lancashire example, the name is interpreted as “the settlement of Pinna’s people”, reflecting a personal association with an early settler named Pinna.
Historical evidence of the family includes a notable soldier entitled Sir John Pennington, whose death record is preserved in the English Death Registers of 1470, dated to the reign of King Edward IV (1461-1483). Sir John’s contemporary accounts mention a commemorative cup known locally as the “luck of Muncaster”, a relic that remains housed at Muncaster Castle.
Other documented bearers illustrate the name’s social span. In the mid‑seventeenth century William Pennington, aged eighteen, departed London aboard the ship Durst bound for the Bermudas in September 1635; he is regarded as one of the earliest Penningtons to settle in the New World. Earlier, on 8 July 1548, Elin Pennington was christened at Ulverston, while on 21 November 1568, Allan Pennington married Issabell Scale in Hawkshead, Lancashire, attesting to the name’s continued pastoral integration.
Today, Pennington is regarded as a fairly common English surname, maintained both within the United Kingdom and in other English‑speaking countries where descendants have migrated over the centuries. Relatively little variation in spelling or form exists, as the name retains its original locational and occupational connotations without significant alteration.
Typical given names associated with the Pennington surname
Male
- Alan
- Andrew
- David
- Ian
- James
- John
- Mark
- Michael
- Richard
- Stephen
- William
Female
- Anne
- Caroline
- Catherine
- Elizabeth
- Helen
- Jane
- Joanne
- Julie
- Linda
- 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 Pennington in...
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Morse
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There are approximately 8,948 people named Pennington in the UK. That makes it roughly the 1,060th most common surname in Britain. Around 137 in a million people in Britain are named Pennington.
Surname type: Location or geographical feature
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Pennington
- Michael Joseph Pennington - Actor and comedian
- Andrew Pennington - Politician (1960 to 2000)
- Matthew Pennington - Football player
- Michael Pennington - Actor
- Bruce Pennington - Artist
- Jesse Pennington - Football player (1883 to 1970)
- Anne Pennington - (1934 to 1981)
- Harry Pennington - Cricketer (1880 to 1961)
- C. M. Pennington-Richards - Film director and cinematographer (1911 to 2005)
- Harry Pennington - Football player (1875 to 1)
- Jimmy Pennington - Football player
- Dillon Pennington - Cricketer
- Alan Pennington - Sprinter (1916 to 1961)
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.