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Penelope Nicknames: Eight Unexpected Choices

January 9, 2015 By appellationmountain 31 Comments

Penelope NicknamesUnexpected Penelope nicknames meet a need. After all, over 6,000 girls were named Penelope last year alone, and nearly 20,000 in the last three years.

That’s a lot of little girls sharing the same name!

It marries the long and lovely sounds of favorites like Isabella and Olivia. Plus, Zoe and Chloe paved the way for interesting e-ending options.

Plenty of Penelopes answer to their full name, no nickname required.

But options abound.

Penny is the default, a sweetly vintage choice. There’s The Beatles’ “Penny Lane” and The Rescuers’ little girl Penny. But Penny isn’t for everyone – and definitely isn’t the only option.

Read on for eight unexpected nicknames for Penelope!

LOLA

There’s a definite ‘lo’ sound in Penelope. Lola is traditionally associated with Dolores, a name out of favor today.  Lola can stand on its own, and ranked a respectable #260 in 2021.  But if you’re after a formal name, Penelope is a stylish possibility with the right sound. A similar option that’s even more obscure is Pola, as in Polish-born silent film star Pola Negri.

NELL

Traditionally associated with Eleanor and Helen, Nell works for Penelope, too. The ‘nel’ is right there in Penelope, transforming a long, extravagant name to a spare, simple one.

POPPY

Poppy has been huge in the UK, and climbing in the US, too. With the strong repeating ‘p’ sound, Poppy makes sense as an affectionate form of Penelope.

PIPPA

Another possibility thanks to the repeating ‘p’ sound, and also bigger in the UK than the US. If Philippa seems too obscure, Penelope might be another route to sparky Pippa. Pippi – as in children’s storybook character Longstocking – could be another sweet short form.

PEPPER

Between Iron Man and Annie, there have been plenty of prominent characters called Pepper. But like Cricket and Bootsy, Pepper doesn’t feel strongly connected to any single given name. Instead, Pepper is the feminine equivalent of Buddy or Junior.  But if Pippa and Poppy are possible short forms of Penelope, it stands to reason that Pepper would work, too.

POLLY

At one point, naming your daughter Mary and calling her Molly was perfectly acceptable. Likewise, many a Mary became Polly. That feels a little odd today. Instead, Polly sounds more like a potential nickname for Penelope.

POSY

Sweet, botanical Posy; quiet, literary Posy. This one is usually connected to Josephine, but traditional pairings are less well known in our who-needs-a-formal-name age. Posy could easily link to Penelope.  It’s a stretch sound-wise, but then again, Posy for Josephine isn’t obvious, either.

PIXIE

Yes, there are a handful of women really named Pixie.  And Pixie could be a nickname for nearly any name – see actress Pixie Lott, born Victoria.  But that letter P means that Pixie works particularly well for Penelope.

What is your favorite Penelope nickname? 

First published on January 9, 2015, this post was updated on August 13, 2022.

Penelope nicknames Penelope nicknames

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Comments

  1. Ana says

    January 5, 2023 at 2:02 PM

    How about Ella. It is definitely in pen Ella pee

    Reply
  2. Penelope says

    May 12, 2022 at 8:06 AM

    So many times my name gets confused … Pamela, Melanie. Priscilla. Pauline.

    I’m a Penelope.
    Was Lady P, Poppy, sweet pea, pen pen, at times. My father used to call me penepaneza sometimes. Think I’d like to try out Polly. Looking for some sort of older persons name. As I hit mid century.

    Reply
  3. Lia says

    March 5, 2020 at 5:25 PM

    Ople could be on the list to!

    Reply
  4. Penelope says

    May 29, 2019 at 4:21 PM

    Lola

    Reply
  5. Penelope—Penny (Newnam) Dimler says

    May 13, 2019 at 7:36 PM

    These comments give me a greater appreciation for my name. Thank you folks.—Penelope

    Reply
  6. Penny (Newnam) Dimler says

    May 13, 2019 at 7:25 PM

    What about “Lope”? Lupe is a diminutive of Guadalupe. Could Lope be so for Penelope? Also are there Spanish diminutives for Penelope?

    Reply
  7. Tilin Foster says

    March 10, 2019 at 1:01 PM

    We called our Penelope Opie when she was little.

    Reply
  8. Penny Williams says

    September 8, 2018 at 3:43 AM

    Just “Pen”

    Reply
    • Pennelope says

      September 30, 2020 at 9:41 AM

      I get called Nelly, and no i did not spell my name wrong

      Reply
  9. Lala says

    July 14, 2018 at 10:01 AM

    We call our little Penelope Sweet P

    Reply
  10. Connor says

    June 29, 2018 at 9:04 PM

    Why is Punky not on the penelope nicknames list

    Reply
  11. Anne says

    September 3, 2017 at 8:11 PM

    We call our Penelope- Pip!

    Reply
    • appellationmountain says

      September 3, 2017 at 8:43 PM

      That’s darling!

      Reply
  12. Kailynt Kager says

    April 26, 2017 at 10:43 PM

    Pia

    Reply
  13. Penelope says

    March 10, 2017 at 6:44 AM

    People just call me Nelly like Nell and I prefer it to Penny or Penelope

    Reply
  14. Remy says

    August 19, 2016 at 10:09 AM

    Penelope is such a perfect name. I love it! And I love all the nick name options it comes with.. I’m a big fan of nick names, they’re practically a must for me. Posy and Nell are my favorites from the bunch. 🙂

    Reply
  15. Cortney says

    August 18, 2016 at 8:08 PM

    I have a little Penelope ‘Pippa’. I love it so much and was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to get everyone on board with the nickname.

    Reply
  16. Lainy P says

    January 22, 2016 at 4:22 PM

    Favorite nicknames for Penelope are Pepper, Penn, and Poe. Also PJ because my combo is Penelope Jane. 🙂

    Reply
    • appellationmountain says

      January 22, 2016 at 4:32 PM

      Those are great suggestions – and I love PJ! It’s the name of one of the classroom pets at my kid’s school, and it really makes me happy every time I say it. 🙂

      Reply
  17. Elisabeth says

    January 17, 2016 at 10:42 PM

    I love this post!! I think my favorite nicknames are Nell and Poppy.. I’ve never thought of Posy as a nickname for Penelope but I ADORE that name so much. I’m one of the crazies who is very seriously considering it as a stand alone for this babe. What literature does it come from?? My husband thinks I made it up.

    Reply
  18. Paul says

    September 30, 2015 at 3:39 PM

    I have 6 month old twins, Emma and Penelope. I call her P-Lo !

    Reply
    • appellationmountain says

      September 30, 2015 at 5:19 PM

      LOVE! Congrats on your nicely-named twins. 🙂

      Reply
  19. Pen says

    September 25, 2015 at 11:59 PM

    My name is Penelope. Mostly called Penny as a child and now occasionally. I prefer Pen the traditional shorten name for Penelope. I liked Nell but my mother hated that so of course I was never called that. I got sick of being called Penny for them, halfpenny and my pet hate was Henny Penny. Ugh. , just called me Penelope.

    Reply
  20. Josie says

    January 10, 2015 at 4:28 AM

    I like Penny and Pepper best for Penelope.

    I’m odd, I like Pip/Pippa for Philippa but not for Penelope. Of course our here in Oz where Pepper sounds like Peppa, the difference between Pippa and Peppa is just a slight NZed accent… 😉

    I like Posy for Josephine. But couldn’t use it as Josie’s daughter Posy sounds ridiculous.

    Oddly enough I like Pixie for Beatrix via Bix to Pix.

    Polly is on our list as an option for Opal. I like to think Opal is quite usable? Ippolita would push it to real guilty pleasure territory.

    Reply
  21. Names4real says

    January 9, 2015 at 2:36 PM

    I love the name Penelope. I would call my Penelope the occasional nickname Poe or Penn, but I like almost all of your choices, especially Posey.

    You could also use Elle/Ellie too.

    Reply
  22. Madelyn says

    January 9, 2015 at 2:26 PM

    As much as I love unexpected nicknames, I think I prefer good ol’ Penny for Penelope. I still, however, would love to meet a Polly and Lola who were secret Penelopes.

    Reply
  23. Amy3 says

    January 9, 2015 at 2:14 PM

    I have such a soft spot for Polly! I’d love to see more girls called this whether it was a nickname or a stand-alone.

    Reply
    • Patricia says

      January 9, 2015 at 5:16 PM

      Me too — I love Polly! And have long been on the lookout for more a “substantial” name to use as a give name. The best I’ve come up with is Pauline, but I think Penelope is so much better. From online discussions of various non-traditional nicknames being used with classic names these days, I think Penelope “Polly” would work just fine. I also think that eventually Polly as a stand-alone name may make a comeback in the USA (presently not in the top 1000), just as it has in England/Wales, where Polly ranked at #243 in 2013.

      Reply
      • Josie says

        January 10, 2015 at 3:39 AM

        Off topic, but I like Opal and Apollonia for Polly.

        Reply
  24. carrano says

    January 9, 2015 at 10:29 AM

    If you don’t want to call your daughter Penelope, name her something else.

    Reply
    • appellationmountain says

      January 9, 2015 at 10:44 AM

      Sure, that’s one approach. And there are plenty of great reasons to skip the formal name. But plenty of parents like the idea of flexibility. Or kids with a certain name grow up and think, hmmm … I’m not really a Penny, but I’d be a great Nell. Nothing wrong with nicknames. Or options.

      Reply

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