Penney (also spelled Penny) is a common

surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

of British origin. The name Penney dates from the ancient

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

culture of Britain. It was derived from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

"Penig," denoting a coin (

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymology, etymological ancestor in a proto-language, common parent language. Because language c ...

with German " Pfennig"). The penny was the only unit of coinage in England until the early 14th century, and as such was a coin of considerable value. The name was first found in

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

where they held a family seat from very early times; before the 12th century had become associated with London; later moved north into Scotland and west into Ireland settling mostly in the provinces of Ulster and

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

. Some of the first settlers of this name or some of its variants were: George Penny who settled in the Barbados in 1635; William Penny settled on Eastern Long Island prior to 1740; Charles Penny settled in Maryland in 1775; P. Penny settled in Boston, Massachusetts in 1769; the family also settled in Pennsylvania in the 18th century. In

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, Benedict Penny inherited property in Carbonear which dated back to 1699. Spelling variations include: Penny, Penney, Pennie, Penne, Pyne, Pynne and others.

People named Penney

Alphonsus Liguori Penney Archbishop Alphonsus Liguori Penney (17 September 1924 – 12 December 2017) was a Canadian Catholic priest who was Archbishop of St. John's from 1979 to 1991. He was born in St. John's, Newfoundland. Sexual abuse scandal The Winter Commission wa ...

(1924-2017) Canadian Archbishop *

Darby Penney Darby Penney (December 10, 1952 – October 11, 2021) was an American mental health worker and human rights activist working for improvements in psychiatric care. Early life Penney was born in Oceanside, New York, the daughter of Arthur Penney ...

(1952-2021), American writer, activist *

David Penney David Mark Penney (born 17 August 1964) is an English football manager and former player. Born in Wakefield, West Riding of Yorkshire, Penney entered professional football at the relatively late age of 21. He had been working as a bricklayer an ...

(born 1964), English Football Player/Manager
Gail Penney
(born 1959), New Zealand blog writer * James Cash Penney (1875–1971), American Businessman, Founder of

JC Penney Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is a midscale American department store chain operating 667 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Mens, Womens, Boys, Gir ...

* Kirk Penney (born 1980), New Zealand basketball player *

Roger Penney Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ...

, American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist *

Stef Penney Stef Penney (born 1969 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish filmmaker and novelist. She grew up in the Scottish capital and turned to film-making after a degree in Philosophy and Theology from Bristol University. She made three short films before studyin ...

(born 1969), Scottish novelist and filmmaker * Steve Penney (born 1961), NHL goaltender from Canada; played with the Winnipeg Jets and the 1986 Stanley Cup Champions, the Montreal Canadiens * Frederick Penney (1816–1869), Scottish chemist * Steve Penney (born 1964), Irish Footballer, played in the 1986 World Cup *

Trevor Penney Trevor Lionel Penney (born 12 June 1968 in Salisbury, Rhodesia) is a former Zimbabwean cricketer who played for Warwickshire County Cricket Club, noted particularly for his fielding. He was a substitute fielder for England during the 2005 Ash ...

(born 1968), English cricket coach and former player *

William George Penney William George Penney, Baron Penney, (24 June 19093 March 1991) was an English mathematician and professor of mathematical physics at the Imperial College London and later the rector of Imperial College London. He had a leading role in the de ...

(1909–1991), British Physicist and one of the participants in The Manhattan Project

People named Penney

See also