Pinkney
Masculine · “from the French town of Picquigny”
Pinkney is an old American first name taken from a surname with a Norman past: it is the English form of Picquigny, a town on the Somme in northern France. In the early republic it was also the name of one of the country's most celebrated lawyers, William Pinkney of Maryland.
How old is the name Pinkney?
Pinkney was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Pinkney alive today was born around 1921, making them about 104 years old. Fewer than a hundred people named Pinkney are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
When was the name Pinkney most popular?
Pinkney peaked in 1891, reaching #497 nationally. See the whole 1891 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Picquigny, a town on the Somme to Pinkney
The story of Pinkney
A Norman family from Picquigny crossed to England after the Conquest, and its name settled into English as Pinkney, with or without a c. Picquigny had its own moment in 1475, when Edward IV of England and Louis XI of France met there on a bridge over the Somme, a wooden grille between them, and agreed the truce that sent the English army home. In America the surname came with colonial families. William Pinkney of Maryland, who spelled it without the c, served as minister to Great Britain and then as Attorney General under James Madison. From families like his it passed into first names.
Meaning
from the French town of Picquigny
The surname Pinkney, and its spelling Pinckney, comes from Picquigny, near Amiens, the home of a Norman family that held land in England after the Conquest. The first name is the surname used as a given name.
How the name formed
- Picquigny, a town on the Somme
- Pinkney, an English surname
- Pinkney, an American first name
Pronouncing Pinkney
PINK-nee
Two syllables, stress on the first. The Pinckney spelling is said the same way.
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 191617 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #497reached in 1891
- Change vs 1957
- +20.0%6 in 1958, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Pinkneys among us
Fewer than a hundred people named Pinkney are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Pinkney sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Has a traceable line from a Norman town to an English surname to an American first name.
- Carried by a well-documented American statesman, William Pinkney, who served as Attorney General.
- Two syllables, easy to say, and spelled as it sounds.
- The first syllable is the color pink, which some will find an odd fit; in the name's own history the color had nothing to do with it.
- Many people know the Carolina Pinckneys and will add the c, so it will need spelling out.
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What they receive
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Pinkney
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Pinkneys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. Fewer than a hundred people named Pinkney are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
- How popular is the name Pinkney in 2025?
- Pinkney is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Pinkney with classmates?
- Pinkney will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More P names
The most-given names starting with P, all years combined.
Paul#262 · Patrick#235 · Peter#187 · Philip#527 · Phillip#651 · Parker#102 · Preston#299 · Pedro#455
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Pinkney? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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