Explore the Family Name Penberthy

The meaning of Penberthy

English (Cornwall): habitational name from Penberthy in Saint Hilary (Cornwall). The placename is from Middle Cornish pen ‘head, top, end’ + perthy, plural of perth ‘brake, thicket’.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Penberthy in the United States?

According to the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Penberthy has seen a slight decrease over a decade. In 2000, Penberthy was ranked 32,460 in terms of popularity and by 2010, the rank had fallen slightly to 33,379, marking a decrease of 2.83 percent. Despite the drop in rank, the actual count of individuals with the Penberthy surname increased from 668 in 2000 to 684 in 2010, showing a growth of 2.4 percent. However, the proportion of this surname per 100,000 people decreased by 8 percent during this period.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#32,460	#33,379	-2.83%
Count	668	684	2.4%
Proportion per 100k	0.25	0.23	-8%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Penberthy

In terms of ethnic identity, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows that the majority of individuals with the Penberthy surname identify as White, with 95.51 percent in 2000 and 95.18 percent in 2010, marking a slight decrease of 0.35 percent. The percentage of those identifying as Hispanic also showed a minor decrease from 2.84 percent in 2000 to 2.78 percent in 2010. Individuals identifying as belonging to two or more races made up 1.20 percent in 2000, which decreased to 1.02 percent in 2010. There were no recorded instances of individuals with the Penberthy surname identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, or American Indian and Alaskan Native in either year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	95.51%	95.18%	-0.35%
Hispanic	2.84%	2.78%	-2.11%
Two or More Races	1.2%	1.02%	-15%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%