Where Does the Pennel Surname Come From?

Pennel and Pennell are two spellings with one history. Surname dictionaries give the meaning as “from Payne, 'countryman'”.

Spelling and variants

Without the “l” of Pennell, Pennel is a simpler written form of the same name. You may also find the name written Pinnell.

In the records

The Census Bureau's 2010 surname file lists Pennel with 518 bearers, at rank 41,959. That is enough to place it in the top 50,000 American surnames. French civil records give 738 births under the name Pennel from 1891 to 2000, peaking in 1981–1990.

Pennel coat of arms

Arms linked to Pennell and its spellings were granted to individual families; our heraldry team traces which line they belonged to.

Get the complete Pennel report, with a museum-style coat of arms.