Recorded 1880–2025 · United States
Penelope was most popular in 2019, when 6,734 American babies were given the name — ranking #71 that year. In 2025 it ranked #67, with 6,225 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 109,533 people named Penelope.
The Social Security Administration’s records begin in 1880, and Penelope is already there in that first year — so the name is older than the record and these figures cannot date it. It has been recorded in 132 of the 146 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 109,533 American births named Penelope between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 103,411 are estimated to be alive today.
6,225 American babies were named Penelope in 2025, ranking #67 that year.
Penelope is rising. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 6,175 births a year, against 3,949 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of +56% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Penelope is a girl’s name — 100.0% of the 109,533 Americans given it were girls and 0.0% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 100% girls and 0% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 103,411 Americans named Penelope are alive today — 94% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 9 years old, and half are between 5 and 13. That is a narrow band because Penelope is a young name — it only became common recently, so almost everyone carrying it is still a child or a young adult.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Penelope on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org