Penrod
A surname most likely built from a place-name root, probably meaning someone from or near a hill or promontory called Penrod or a similar form.
The #5,095 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 44,961 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Penrod is most likely a locational surname, but its exact origin is uncertain. The first element may be the Celtic word pen, meaning "hill" or "headland," or an English place-name element of similar shape. The second element is less secure; it may preserve an old personal name, a descriptive term, or a lost place-name ending, so the surname’s literal meaning cannot be stated with confidence.
History
The surname is found mainly in the United States today and is relatively uncommon. In many cases, surnames of this sort reflect families who took their name from a local place, estate, or minor settlement, and later the spelling became fixed in records. Because Penrod is not well documented in the major classical surname dictionaries, its history is best treated as provisional rather than definite.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Penrod is distinctive enough that it often stands out in records, which makes it a useful surname for genealogical tracing even when its origin is obscure.