English and Scottish from Hebrew "God's face"; OT 1 Chronicles 4:4 & 8:25. The Biblical references are only to the male name - with earlier references to a place - but in Scotland it is more usually a female name. Alternative spellings are Penual, Penwell and Pennel.
A correspondent [HM2] notes that Penuel was common amongst tin miners from Cornwall and Devon in south-west England who emigrated to Canada - all male.
A private correspondent [IL] has sent the following:
"One of my g-g-grandmothers, Penuel Meston, was born in Banchory-Ternan in Kincardineshire. I came across a source which said that this unusual forename, which could be male or female, was usually associated with Ogilvie or Grant (and possibly McKenzie). My Penuel grandmother, when I eventually located her, turned out to be an Ogilvie. Incidentally, she was on several records as Penelope - presumably the recorders thought Penuel was an shortened version."
Another correspondent [DO'R] records Penuel Allanach married in Strathdon, Aberdeenshire, Scotland in 1838, who had been christened Penelope, and with all later records having the forename Penelope.
A correspondent [GD2] points out that Penny could equally be a pet name for Penuel as for Penelope.
GB notes that there is a Monumental Inscription for Penuel Petrie or Hay [c.1860 - 1935] in Essil Old Kirk burial ground in the Parish of Speymouth, Moray, Scotland, the alternative surnames indicating that she was a wife. |
