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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • English, Dutch, and North German : from early Middle English penning, Low German penning, Middle Dutch penninc ‘penny’ (see Penny), a topographic name (from a field name) or a nickname referring to tax dues of a penny.
  • South German : from the short form, Panno, of a Germanic personal name derived from a word meaning ‘ban’, ‘order’, ‘command’.

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