With modern-day fairytale Penelope opening nationwide yesterday, it’s only fitting that we turn the spotlight on this mythological moniker.

True, a flick about about a girl cursed to live with a pig’s snout planted on her otherwise lovely visage might seem unusual inspiration for a child’s name. But that’s not the only thing to recommend this name, which is currently on the fasttrack from obscurity to a playground near you.

We at ApMtn have not yet been treated to a private screening of this Christina Ricci/Reese Witherspoon/James McAvoy extravaganza, but we’ve been deep in love with the film’s otherworldly, fable-in-real-life vibe since the previews first appeared a few months back.

We’re a sucker for love stories, but it helps that Penelope is billed as a voyage of self-discovery: Penelope learns to love her schnoz, and her prince loves her not in spite of the nose, but because of the courage she shows in facing up to her fate.  Or so we gather from the trailer.

The original wearer was Odysseus’ faithful wife.  Despite his twenty years’ globe-spanning adventures, she remained constant - and clever.  When suitors gathered to win her hand, she put them off by claiming she’d wed only when she’d completed a piece of weaving. The trick? Miss P. was unweaving the work completed by day every night.  All ends well - she put off her would-be pursuers until Odysseus could return home and prove his identity.

Fast-forward two thousand years plus, and Penelope Pitstop raced the Compact Pussycat in the Hanana-Barbera cartoon Wacky Races.  Despite the character’s development as an afterthought - the decision to add a female racer came after the original sketches were complete - she went on to get her own show, The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, in 1969.  Miss Pitstop was part damsel-in-distress, part Jane Bond, as she usually did her own rescuing.  Given the historical moment, her schizophrenic approach to facing her Perils seems as appropriate as her white go-go boots.

This was not the name’s first appearance in pop culture. In 1909, W. Somerset Maugham’s play Penelope opened to favorable reviews.  In 1966, Natalie Wood played another big screen Penelope, this time as a banker’s wife who robs her husband’s bank for the fun of it. And that nameless cat pursued endlessly by Pepe Le Pew in the Looney Tunes cartoons? She’s actually Penelope, too.

And yet the name has spent much of its long history in obscurity, at least in the US.  In 1880, it barely cracked the Top 1000, appearing at #917. (This represented five girls christened Penelope. It was just as popular as Parthenia, Bulah, Arthur and Edgar - for girls, really!, Dosha, Icy, Guadalupe, Verona, Texas and Love.)

The name dipped in and out of the Top 1000 until 1935, when it began a steady climb, peaking at #272 in 1947 - the same year Gail Russel’s Penelope Worth nursed John Wayne’s Quirt Evans back to health - and to the side of goodness and right - in the Western Angel and the Badman.

At the name’s height, 795 girls were christened Penelope - far fewer than the nearly 100,000 called Linda, or over 50,000 named Patricia that year, but certainly no longer quite obscure.

But Penelope dipped back out of the Top 1000 by 1976. When it next cracked the list, it was in 2001. Perhaps the popularity is due to the appeal of Spanish actor Penelope Cruz, who gained fame stateside around the same year, appearing in Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Blow and Vanilla Sky. She also clocked time in the tabloids when she romantically linked to Sky co-star Tom Cruise. Now that’s she been nominated for an Academy Award (for her turn in Pedro Almovar’s dark comedy Volver), the name has true silver screen luster and the considerable energy and flair of Ms. Cruz’ Madrileno roots.

In fact, since 2001, the name has leap-frogged up the charts, gaining nearly 500 places to land at #481 in 2006. It’s a quick climb. Other names to race up the popularity polls include Isabella (entered the Top 1000 in 1990 at #892; by 1994, it was #222 and by 1998, it was #84. As of 2006, it was #4 - before we count Isabelle, Isabel, Isobel, Izabella and so on) and Madeline (never truly out of use, but climbing from #719 in 1980 to #524 in 1985, before entering the Top 100 in 1992 at #92).

The name has much to recommend it. It is undeniably classic, with a long history of use. Like Madeline, it is feminine without being frilly. And it shortens to the peppy Penny, or the elegant Nell. While it is not commonly used, we at ApMtn think you could also derive Polly from Penelope, adding another nickname option to the list.

If you’re looking for a name for your daughter, Penelope is a strong choice. But proceed with caution - it might also be an increasingly popular one.