Given name & surname
Penn
“from the enclosure”
Penn is used as a given name and a surname. One English interpretation is “from the enclosure.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One English interpretation is “from the enclosure.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is English.
How it developed
From Proto-Brythonic *penn (“(hill) top, head”).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1915. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. Penn is a variant of Penelope. The history of Penelope gives this family its wider story. In mythological stories, Penelope is associated with the faithful wife of Odysseus.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Penn through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 1,230
- 1,208 boys · 22 girls
- Most popular year
- 2020
- 80 babies
- 2025
- 48
- #2,706 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −15%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 48 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 2,706 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 11.8% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 79 in 2014. In 2025, Texas had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (6). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,083 as a first name in 2020; 18,879 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Penn’s family of names
Penn has a related form in Penelope. Penn has a related form in Pen. Penn has a related form in Pyn.
Inner ring: spellings · outer: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 5
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
People named Penn
- Penn BadgleyAmerican actor and musician (born 1986)
- Penn JilletteAmerican magician and actor (born 1955)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Penn, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Paxton
“from the peaceful town”
95% boys · 5% girls
Mason
“a stoneworker” · “one who works with stone”
99% boys · 1% girls
Terran
“man of the earth”
94% boys · 6% girls
Iren
“peace”
94% boys · 6% girls
Achilles
Achilles is a masculine given name from Latin, ultimately from Ancient Greek. It is used in English, Polish, Cebuano, and Kashubian.
>99% boys
Hercules
“glory of Hera”
>99% boys
Dmitri
“a follower of the goddess Demeter”
>99% boys
Romulus
Romulus is a surname from French.
>99% boys