Pennyfather Surname

1,980,395th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 89 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
England
Highest density in:
England

Pennyfather Surname Definition:

PENYFADYR: Johannes Penyfadyr, a charter witness at Yester, 1374 (Yester, p. 26). Defined of old as a niggard, a miser. 'The idea presumably was that the miser "fathered" or treasured every penny,' or as Congrave, the author of the famous French-English Dictionary says,

'The liberall doth spend his pelfe,

The pennyfather wastes himself.

Pennyfather Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England781:714,33440,171
Canada31:12,281,864364,614
Wales31:1,031,51134,732
Australia21:13,497,850222,987
Peru11:31,784,12364,452
Saudi Arabia11:30,855,81763,028
United States11:362,458,9331,988,048
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England771:316,56320,927
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States11:50,218,684817,899

Pennyfather Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

PENYFADYR: Johannes Penyfadyr, a charter witness at Yester, 1374 (Yester, p. 26). Defined of old as a niggard, a miser. 'The idea presumably was that the miser "fathered" or treasured every penny,' or as Congrave, the author of the famous French-English Dictionary says,

'The liberall doth spend his pelfe,

The pennyfather wastes himself.'

The Surnames of Scotland (1946) by George Fraser Black (1866-1948)

V. Pennifather.

Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912) by Henry Harrison

A term of reproach applied to a miser or penurious person. Nash speaks of —

Patronymica Britannica (1860) by Mark Antony Lower

(U.S. Penefather.) These names may be from the W. penffetter, headstrong, stubborn, obstinate. Hearne however derives the name of a street called Penny-farthing Street from a wealthy family whose name of Penyvadir or Penyfadir he had met with in old registers; and, if so, these names may be derived from locality; perhaps from W. pen-y-ffed-tir, the head of the outward land; or pen-y-mad-dir, the head of the good land. Lower says the forms of the name Pennyfather in H.R. are Penifader and Penifadir. He gives also a Barnfather and a Bairnsfather, which however he derives from a different source. There is the U.S. name Pennymaker.

Ludus Patronymicus (1868) by Richard Stephen Charnock

Pennyfather Last Name Facts

Where Does The Last Name Pennyfather Come From? nationality or country of origin

Pennyfather is carried by more people in England than any other country/territory. It may appear as:. For other potential spellings of Pennyfather click here.

How Common Is The Last Name Pennyfather? popularity and diffusion

The surname is the 1,980,395th most commonly used last name on a global scale. It is borne by around 1 in 81,882,538 people. The surname Pennyfather occurs predominantly in Europe, where 91 percent of Pennyfather live; 91 percent live in Northern Europe and 91 percent live in British Isles.

The surname is most widespread in England, where it is carried by 78 people, or 1 in 714,334. In England Pennyfather is mostly found in: Essex, where 37 percent are found, Greater London, where 29 percent are found and Kent, where 17 percent are found. Barring England Pennyfather exists in 6 countries. It also occurs in Canada, where 3 percent are found and Wales, where 3 percent are found.

Pennyfather Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The prevalency of Pennyfather has changed over time. In England the share of the population with the surname rose 101 percent between 1881 and 2014.

Pennyfather Last Name Statistics demography

Pennyfather earn less than half the average income. In Peru they earn 59.83% less than the national average, earning S/. 7,787 per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

Search for Another Surname

Pennyfather Reference & Research

Pennyfather One-name Study - A profile of the Pennyfather surname with contact details for a researcher who collects any information pertaining to it.

Penfold One-name Study - A profile of the Penfold surname with contact details for a researcher who collects any information pertaining to it.

Pennyfather FamilyTree DNA Project - A description of a group researching the paternal lines of men who bear the surname with the help of DNA analysis.

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Footnotes

  • Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic
  • Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
  • Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
  • Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
  • Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
  • Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
  • Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Pennyfather
  • To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on Family​Search, My​Heritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis