Penny

Girl name variations

Family name origins & meanings

• English (also present in Ireland) : from Middle English peni, peny ‘penny’, applied as a nickname, possibly for a person of some substance or for a tenant who paid a rent of one penny. This was the common Germanic unit of value when money was still an unusual phenomenon. It was the only unit of coinage in England until the early 14th century, when the groat and the gold noble were introduced, and was a silver coin of considerable value. There is some evidence that the word was used in Old English times as a byname.