Penelope
Penelope is a female given name: 100% of people named Penelope are women, and it is recorded as female in 4 of the 4 countries covered.
Penelope · Penélope
- Verdict
- Female
- Male / female split
- 0% male / 100% female
- Confidence
- High (64 or more weighted country observations)
- Most common in
- United States, Great Britain, Spain
- Also spelled
- Penélope
- US births since 1880
- 20 male / 59,132 female
- Data
- nam_dict (GFDL) + US SSA
- Updated
- 2026-09-11
How to address Penelope
When you do not know their gender for certain, the full name with no title is the safe choice: "Dear Penelope," in English, "Guten Tag Penelope," in German. Penelope is a female given name: about 100% of people named Penelope are women. A quick look at a profile confirms it for certain.
Ready-made greetings in six languages
English
Dear Penelope,
German
Guten Tag Penelope,
French
Bonjour Penelope,
Spanish
Estimado/a Penelope:
Chinese
Penelope您好：
Japanese
Penelope様
English
Hi Penelope,
German
Hi Penelope,
French
Salut Penelope,
Spanish
Hola Penelope,
Chinese
Penelope你好：
Japanese
Penelopeさん
This is a statistical estimate, not a statement about the gender, identity or correct form of address of any particular person.
Country breakdown
| Country | How common | Usually | Male share |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | very common | woman's name | 0% |
| Great Britain | uncommon | woman's name | 2% |
| Spain | rare | woman's name | 2% |
| Italy | rare | woman's name | 2% |
United States birth data
20 male · 59,132 female · 59,152 births recorded
Since 1980: 0% male.
Frequently asked questions
Is Penelope a male or female name?
Penelope is a female given name: 100% of people named Penelope are women, and it is recorded as female in 4 of the 4 countries covered.
How do I address Penelope in an email?
When you do not know their gender for certain, the full name with no title is the safe choice: "Dear Penelope," in English, "Guten Tag Penelope," in German. Penelope is a female given name: about 100% of people named Penelope are women. A quick look at a profile confirms it for certain.
Is Penelope a unisex name?
Penelope is not a unisex name: 0% of people named Penelope are men. Penelope leans strongly female overall.
Related names
Sources
Gender by country: nam_dict, the c't first-names dictionary by Joerg Michael, roughly 44,000 names across 55 countries, licensed GFDL. US frequencies: United States Social Security Administration baby-name data, public domain. Method: how we classify names. Full dataset: data & licences. Data built 2026-09-11.
DearWho, "Is Penelope a male or female name?", https://dearwho.vercel.app/name/penelope (accessed 2026-09-11). Data: nam_dict (J. Michael, GFDL) and US SSA, built 2026-09-11.
BibTeX
@misc{dearwho_penelope,
title = {Is Penelope a male or female name?},
author = {{DearWho}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://dearwho.vercel.app/name/penelope},
note = {Data: nam_dict (GFDL), US SSA public domain}
}