Penelope Pronunciation [ 1] [ 2] pə-NEL -ə-pee Gender Female Word/name Greek mythology Meaning Weaver Nickname(s) Nell, Nellie, Nelly, Pen, Penny, Pepper, Pip, Pippa, Popi, Poppi, Poppy, Punky.
Penelope , often used in reference to Homer's character , is a female first name of Greek origin. It is of uncertain meaning but may be derived from the Greek word penelops , which means duck or refers to another water fowl sacred to the Ancient Greeks. The name might also be derived from the Greek pene meaning web and either ops meaning eye or lepo , meaning unraveled , implying the meaning weaver .[ 3] [ 4] [ 5] [ 6] The name was revived in the Anglosphere by the mid-16th Century and has since been in occasional use.[ 7]
The name has increased in popularity in recent years. It is among the most popular names for girls in Australia , Canada , England and Wales , Italy , New Zealand , Scotland , and the United States .[ 8] [ 9] [ 10]
Penelope, Lady Aitken (1910–2005), English socialite
Penelope Aubin , English novelist
Penelope Austin , Australian singer-songwriter
Pénélope Bagieu (born 1982), French illustrator and comic designer
Penelope Blackmore (born 1984), Australian rhythmic gymnast
Penelope Blount, Countess of Devonshire (1562–1607), English noblewoman
Penelope Boothby (1785–1791), English famous child model in British art
Penelope Boston , American speleologist
Penelope Bradshaw (died 1754?), British compiler of a cookery book
Penelope Brothers , New Zealand chemistry academic
Penelope Brown (born 1944), American anthropological linguist
Penelope Carwardine , English painter
Penelope Casas , American food writer
Penelope Chetwode , English travel writer
Penelope Coelen , South African beauty pageant contestant
Penélope Cruz (born 1974), Spanish actress
Penelope Delta (1874–1941), Greek author
Penelope Dransart , Anthropologist, archaeologist, and historian
Penelope Dudley-Ward (1914–1982), English actress
Penelope Farmer (born 1939), English author
Penelope Fillon (born 1955), wife of French politician and former Prime Minister of France François Fillon
Penelope Fitzgerald (1916–2000), Booker Prize-winning English novelist, poet, essayist and biographer
Penelope Ford (born 1992), American professional wrestler
Penelope Gilliatt (1932–1993), English novelist, short story writer, screenwriter and film critic
Penelope Heyns (born 1974), South African swimmer and double gold medalist at the 1996 Olympic Games
Penelope Hobhouse (born 1929), British garden writer, designer, lecturer and presenter
Penelope Hocking (born 1999), American professional soccer player
Penelope Houston (born 1958), American singer-songwriter
Penelope Jencks (born 1936), American sculptor
Penelope Keith (born 1940), English actress famous for TV sitcoms
Penelope Lea , Norwegian climate activist
Penelope Leah (born 1937), British psychologist
Penelope Ligonier (1749–1827), English aristocrat and socialite
Penelope Lively (born 1933), British fiction writer
Penelope Maddy (born 1950), American philosopher
Pénélope McQuade (born 1970), Canadian radio and television host
Penélope Menchaca (born 1968), Mexican television host, singer, and actress
Penelope Ann Miller (born 1964), American actress
Penelope Mitchell (born 1991), Australian actress
Penelope Mortimer (1918–1999), British journalist, biographer and novelist
Penelope Mountbatten, Lady Ivar Mountbatten (born 1966), British philanthropist and businesswoman
Penelope Niven (1939—2014), American academic and biographer
Penelope Powell (1904–1965), English cave diver
Penelope Walton Rogers (1950–2023), British archaeologist
Penelope Rosemont (born 1942), American visual artist, writer, publisher, and social activist
Penelope Scott (born 2000), American musician, singer-songwriter, and producer
Penelope Seidler (born 1938), Australian architect and accountant
Penelope Spheeris (born 1945), American director, producer and screenwriter
Penelope Stout (17th century), early white settler of Monmouth County, New Jersey
Penelope Tree (born 1950), Anglo-American former fashion model prominent in swinging sixties London
Penelope Trunk (born 1966), American writer and entrepreneur
Penelope Wensley (born 1946), Governor of Queensland, Australia
Penelope Wilton (born 1946), English actress
Penelope Windust (1945–2022), American television, film, and stage actress
Fictional and mythological characters [ edit ]
Penelope , the wife of Odysseus in Homer's Odyssey
Penelope , mother of the god Pan in Greek mythology
Penelope, a character in the anime Hamtaro
Penelope, a major antagonist in the Sly Cooper video game series
Penelope, a character in the 2002 animated film Barbie as Rapunzel
Penelope Alvarez , a character in One Day at a Time
Penelope Benjamin , a character in the film, Top Gun: Maverick
Penelope Blossom, Cheryl Blossom 's mother in Archie Comics and CW 's Riverdale
Penelope "Punky" Brewster, the main character in the television sitcom Punky Brewster
Penelope Clade , a character in the film Strange World
Penelope Clearwater, a character in the Harry Potter series
Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward , a character from the 1960s television program Thunderbirds
Penelope Featherington, a character from the book and TV series Bridgerton
Penelope Garcia , a character in the television drama Criminal Minds
Penelope Lang, an antagonist in the animated series Atomic Betty
Penelope Park, a character in Legacies
Penelope Parker , a Marvel Comics superhero
Penelope Pitstop , a Hanna-Barbera cartoon character
Penelope Puff , a character in the television series SpongeBob SquarePants
Penelope Pussycat , a character from the Looney Tunes franchise
Penelope Shafai, a character in Gossip Girl
Penelope Taynt, a character in The Amanda Show
Penelope Wilhern, a character in the 2006 film Penelope , portrayed by Christina Ricci
Penny Widmore , a recurring character on the television show Lost
^ "Penelope" . Lexico UK English Dictionary . Oxford University Press . Archived from the original on 2020-03-22.
^ "Penelope" . Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary . Merriam-Webster.
^ "Meaning, origin and history of the name Penelope" .
^ "Name of the Week" .
^ "17. Penelope and the Penelops" .
^ Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006). Oxford Dictionary of First Names . Oxford University Press. p. 217. ISBN 9780198610601 .
^ Redmonds, George, Christian Names in Local and Family History, Dundurn Press, 2004, ISBN 1-55002-507-4 p. 41
^ "Meaning, origin and history of the name Penelope" .
^ "Popular Baby Names" . Archived from the original on 2018-02-02. Retrieved 2022-04-08 .
^ Kelly, Lesley-Anne; Morrice, Emma; Santa Cruz, Joely (28 March 2022). "King David and the death of Karen: Scotland's baby name trends for past 50 years" . thecourier.co.uk . The Courier. Retrieved 21 May 2022 .