Explore the Family Name Pennell
The meaning of Pennell
English (especially southeastern): 1. metronym from the Middle English female personal name Pennel (an assimilated form of Parnell). 2. habitational name from Penn Hall in Pensax (Worcestershire), or from either of two places called Penhill in Devon and Yorkshire, or possibly from Pendle in Lancashire. All of the placenames probably derive from British penn ‘head’ + Old English hyll ‘hill’.
Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.
How common is the last name Pennell in the United States?
Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Pennell has seen a slight decline in popularity between 2000 and 2010. With a ranking of 5273 in 2000 and dropping to 5633 in 2010, that's a decrease of 6.83%. However, the total count of individuals with this surname increased from 6072 to 6170 during the same period, suggesting a growth of 1.61%. The proportion per 100k people also saw a dip from 2.25 to 2.09, marking a reduction of 7.11%.
2000 | 2010 | Change | |
---|---|---|---|
Rank | #5,273 | #5,633 | -6.83% |
Count | 6,072 | 6,170 | 1.61% |
Proportion per 100k | 2.25 | 2.09 | -7.11% |
Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Pennell
As for its ethnic identity, according to the Decennial U.S. Census, there is a diverse distribution of the Pennell surname across different ethnicities. In 2000, most Pennells were identified as white at 95.11%, which slightly decreased to 93.86% by 2010. The second largest ethnicity group was Hispanic, seeing a significant increase from 1.40% to 2.27% within a decade. Other ethnic groups such as Asian/Pacific Islander and those identifying with two or more races also saw an increase of 23.68% and 28.69% respectively. Meanwhile, the percentage of Pennells who are Black marginally decreased from 1.48% to 1.46%, and the American Indian and Alaskan Native category also witnessed a drop in representation from 0.41% to 0.37%.
2000 | 2010 | Change | |
---|---|---|---|
White | 95.11% | 93.86% | -1.31% |
Hispanic | 1.4% | 2.27% | 62.14% |
Two or More Races | 1.22% | 1.57% | 28.69% |
Black | 1.48% | 1.46% | -1.35% |
Asian/Pacific Islander | 0.38% | 0.47% | 23.68% |
American Indian and Alaskan Native | 0.41% | 0.37% | -9.76% |
Pennell ancestry composition
23andMe computes an ancestry breakdown for each customer. People may have ancestry from just one population or they may have ancestry from several populations. The most commonly-observed ancestry found in people with the surname Pennell is British & Irish, which comprises 54.7% of all ancestry found in people with the surname. The next two most common ancestries are French & German (25.9%) and Eastern European (5.6%). Additional ancestries include Scandinavian, Italian, Spanish & Portuguese, Nigerian, and Indigenous American.
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ANCESTRY BREAKDOWN | COMPOSITION |
---|---|
British & Irish | 54.7% |
French & German | 25.9% |
Eastern European | 5.6% |
Other | 13.8% |
Possible origins of the surname Pennell
Your DNA provides clues about where your recent ancestors may have lived. Having many distant relatives in the same location suggests that you may all share common ancestry there. Locations with many distant relatives can also be places where people have migrated recently, such as large cities. If a large number of individuals who share your surname have distant relatives in a specific area, it could indicate a connection between your surname and that location, stemming from either recent ancestral ties or migration.
Based on 23andMe data, people with last name Pennell have recent ancestry locations all within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
RECENT ANCESTRY Location | Percentage |
---|---|
West Yorkshire, United Kingdom | 87.30% |
West Midlands, United Kingdom | 87.30% |
Tyne And Wear, United Kingdom | 87.30% |
Glasgow City, United Kingdom | 87.30% |
Greater London, United Kingdom | 87.30% |
What Pennell haplogroups can tell you
Haplogroups are genetic population groups that share a common ancestor on either your paternal or maternal line. These paternal and maternal haplogroups shed light on your genetic ancestry and help tell the story of your family.
The top paternal haplogroup of people with the surname Pennell is R-DF88, which is predominantly found among people with European ancestry. Haplogroup R-DF88 is descended from haplogroup R-M343. Other common haplogroups include I-M26 and R-CTS241, which are predominantly found among people with European and European ancestry. Other surnames with similar common haplogroups are: Rockwell, Dykes, Wylie, Spangler, Batchelder, Mansell, Ellsworth, Culbertson, Killian, Gifford.
The most common maternal haplogroups of people with Pennell surname are: H1, T2b, H. These most commonly trace back to individuals of European ancestry.
Your maternal lineage may be linked to Marie Antoinette
Because it is so dominant in the general European population, haplogroup H also appears quite frequently in the continent's royal houses. Marie Antoinette, an Austrian Hapsburg who married into the French royal family, inherited the haplogroup from her maternal ancestors. So did Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, whose recorded genealogy traces his female line to Bavaria. Scientists also discovered that famed 16th century astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus traced his maternal lineages to haplogroup H.
What do people with the surname Pennell have in common?
Spoiler alert: it's complicated. People with the same last name are usually no more genetically similar than a randomly sampled group of people from the same population. That said, people with the same surname are more likely to have similar ancestries than randomly sampled individuals. The reason is the tendency of people with similar cultural or geographical backgrounds to preferentially mate with one another. That's why people who share a surname may be more likely to share traits and tendencies in common than people within the general population. Check out the percentages below to see the prevalences of tastes, habits, and traits of people with your surname compared with prevalences among 23andMe users.
Preferences
Traits
Habits
Wellness
Are health conditions linked to the last name Pennell?
The short answer is that, if there is an association between surname and health, it's usually more about your ancestry than your name. Individuals with a given surname are no more genetically similar than the general population but often have similar ancestries. The populations of people associated with those shared ancestries often have sets of genetic variations, also known as alleles, in common. Some of those alleles are associated with a greater likelihood of developing certain diseases.
Disease variant frequency by ancestry
Disease allele frequencies in populations associated with the surname Pennell are shown below. Important Note: not everyone with a disease allele will develop these health condition