Penix is an Cornish-language family name

Family name

A family name is a type of surname and part of a person's name indicating the family to which the person belongs. The use of family names is widespread in cultures around the world...

 (Cornish surnames

Cornish surnames

Cornish surnames are surnames used by Cornish people and often derived from the Cornish language. Such surnames for the common people emerged in the Middle Ages, although the nobility probably had surnames much earlier on. Not until the later Middle Ages did it become necessary for a common man to...

) originating in Cornwall

Cornwall

Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

. In medieval times

Medieval Times

Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament is a family dinner theater featuring staged medieval-style games, sword-fighting, and jousting performed by a cast of 75 actors and 20 horses. Each location is housed in a replica 11th-century castle, with the exception of the Toronto location, which is housed...

, people were known by their given names, but as the population grew

Population growth

Population growth is the change in a population over time, and can be quantified as the change in the number of individuals of any species in a population using "per unit time" for measurement....

, surnames were added based on the place that they owned or lived in to distinguish people from one another. While Celtic people tended to use patronymic

Patronymic

A patronym, or patronymic, is a component of a personal name based on the name of one's father, grandfather or an even earlier male ancestor. A component of a name based on the name of one's mother or a female ancestor is a matronymic. Each is a means of conveying lineage.In many areas patronyms...

 names, many Cornish people

Cornish people

The Cornish are a people associated with Cornwall, a county and Duchy in the south-west of the United Kingdom that is seen in some respects as distinct from England, having more in common with the other Celtic parts of the United Kingdom such as Wales, as well as with other Celtic nations in Europe...

 used local place names as surnames, sometimes in addition to patronymics.

The name Penix could be derived from a local place name, the family lived in the parish of Saint Pinnock, in Cornwall. Surnames are spelled in many ways, due to lack of spelling rules. Therefore, the name has been spelled Pinoke, Pinnick, Pinnock

Pinnock

Pinnock is a surname and may refer to:*Andrew Pinnock - American football player*Anna Pinnock - set decorator*Annie Pinnock Malin - Latter Day Saint author and hymnwriter*Arnold Pinnock - Canadian actor...

, Pincock and Pinock in addition to other variations of the name. The word "Pen" in Cornish means "head" or "end".

Notable people named Penix

• Amanda Penix
  Amanda Penix
  Amanda Rochelle Penix is a model from Oklahoma who was crowned Miss Oklahoma Teen USA 1997 and Miss Oklahoma USA 2000. Penix was also a finalist in Miss Teen USA 1997 and received an honorable mention in Miss USA 2000.-Personal life:...
  
  , winner of Miss Oklahoma Teen USA 1997 and Miss Oklahoma USA 2000
• Eunice M. Penix
  Eunice Penix
  Eunice Penix is the Mayor Pro-Tem of Dade City, Florida. She is a retired school teacher, who was appointed as City Commissioner for Group 5 in 1993, serving unopposed for four out of her five additional terms, campaigning against Mike Agnello for her most recent term, which will expire in 2012....
  
  , Commissioner for Dade City, Florida
• Henry Penix, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of ZOMM, LLC
• Laurie Penix, President and co-founder of ZOMM, LLC

See also

• Fenix
• Phenix
• Phoenix
• Pinnock
  Pinnock
  Pinnock is a surname and may refer to:*Andrew Pinnock - American football player*Anna Pinnock - set decorator*Annie Pinnock Malin - Latter Day Saint author and hymnwriter*Arnold Pinnock - Canadian actor...