- 1
- person in the U.S. has this name Get contact details for people named Penelope Gay
Meaning & Origins
Name borne in Greek mythology by the wife of Odysseus who sat patiently awaiting his return for twenty years, meanwhile, as a supposed widow, fending off by persuasion and guile a pressing horde of suitors for her hand in marriage. Her name would seem to derive from Greek pēnelops ‘duck’, and play is made with this word in the Odyssey. However, this may obscure a more complex origin, now no longer recoverable. The name is recorded in England from the 16th century onwards.
| 1,312th in the U.S. for 2011 |
English and French: nickname for a lighthearted or cheerful person, from Middle English, Old French gai. In Middle English the term could also mean ‘wanton’, ‘lascivious’ and this sense may lie behind the surname in some instances.
| 1,006th in the U.S. for 2011 |
Nicknames & variations
Penelop, Penelopi, Penelopy, Peneolpe, Penellope, Penelopie, Penelopee, Penelepe, Penelopia, Penelape
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