Pennington
A habitational surname from English place-names meaning “the estate or settlement of Penna’s people.”
The #846 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 7,557 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Pennington is an English habitational surname taken from places called Pennington, especially in Lancashire and Hampshire. The name is usually explained from Old English *Penninga-tūn*, meaning “the farm, estate, or settlement of the people of Penna,” with *-inga* indicating a group or family and *tūn* meaning an enclosed settlement or estate. Older spellings recorded in medieval sources include forms such as Pennigetun, Peninton, and Penynton.
History
The surname appears in medieval records very early, and 19th-century writers specifically connect it with Lancashire Pennington and with families established there by the late 12th century. Because it is a place-name surname, it likely arose independently in more than one locality, though the Lancashire line became especially prominent in northern records. Later branches spread into Cumberland and other parts of England, and the name remains common in English-speaking countries today.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Medieval spellings show how fluid English surname spelling could be: one source records forms like Pennigetun, Peninton, Penynton, Pennyngton, and Pynnyngton for the same place-name family.
From the historical record
“PENNIMAN.v. Pannyman. PENNINGTON (Eng.) Bel. to Pennington (Lanes'; Hants) = the Estate of the Penn(a Family [A.-Sax. * Penninga-tAn — -inga, genit. pi. of the fil. suff. -ing; ttin, estate, etc.] The N. Lane. Pennington was Pennige- tun in Domesday Book, Peninton in 1202,”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)