Penny
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a diminutive of the female given name Penelope. From Pen(elope) + -y.
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Penny (CC BY-SA 4.0). This is the origin of the name in English; families in Sweden may have taken it from another language.
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Penny has been falling over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2017. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1998 | – |
| 1999 | – |
| 2000 | – |
| 2001 | – |
| 2002 | – |
| 2003 | – |
| 2004 | 4 |
| 2005 | 12 |
| 2006 | 7 |
| 2007 | 10 |
| 2008 | 15 |
| 2009 | 14 |
| 2010 | 21 |
| 2011 | 35 |
| 2012 | 53 |
| 2013 | 56 |
| 2014 | 76 |
| 2015 | 84 |
| 2016 | 147 |
| 2017 | 154 |
| 2018 | 125 |
| 2019 | 103 |
| 2020 | 102 |
| 2021 | 81 |
| 2022 | 75 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 36 |
| 2000 | 40 |
| 2001 | 43 |
| 2002 | 43 |
| 2003 | 48 |
| 2004 | 56 |
| 2005 | 67 |
| 2006 | 75 |
| 2007 | 84 |
| 2008 | 99 |
| 2009 | 115 |
| 2010 | 138 |
| 2011 | 173 |
| 2012 | 226 |
| 2013 | 286 |
| 2014 | 357 |
| 2015 | 445 |
| 2016 | 592 |
| 2017 | 758 |
| 2018 | 879 |
| 2019 | 992 |
| 2020 | 1,097 |
Penny in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Penny.Hi! My name is Penny.
- Penny bor i Göteborg och pluggar till sjuksköterska.Penny lives in Gothenburg and is training to be a nurse.
- Vet du om Penny kommer på festen på lördag?Do you know if Penny is coming to the party on Saturday?
- Pennys mamma är lärare.Penny's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Pennys mamma is Penny's mum.
More names
Questions about Penny
How do you pronounce Penny in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Penny in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Penny mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a diminutive of the female given name Penelope. From Pen(elope) + -y.
How popular is Penny in Sweden?
75 babies were named Penny in 2022. In 2020, 1,097 people in Sweden had Penny as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been falling lately and peaked in 2017 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.