first name
PENNY
of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census
Of the 81,497 people named Penny, 88.8% reported their origin as White, 4% as Black and 3% as two or more races. Virtually all are female (99.7%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.
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Penny peaked in 1963, when 5,143 babies got the name.
At least 101,003 babies have been given the name since 1882. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.
Penny by decade
Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1960s, when it ranked #204. The largest share of babies named Penny, 55.7%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).
Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.
Where Penny is most common
Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Penny has been most common in Vermont (2.6×), Montana (2.1×), and Indiana (1.9×), and least common in Rhode Island (0.26×).
96,782 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.
Either side of Penny
Spelled almost the same
6 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Penny, most common first.
Also a last name
As a last name, Penny ranks #3,670 of 156,621, with 9,425 people. See Penny as a last name
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🔎 PENNY 🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬜⬜⬜⬜ 1 in 3,706 Americans Rarer than 63.1% of us Peaked in 1963 with 5,143 babies Beat that 👇 https://howrareismy.name/first/penny/