Penh as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Penh

What is the meaning of the name Penh ?

The baby name Penh is a Female name , 1 syllables long and is pronounced PEN (approx. /pɛn/ in English; Khmer pronunciation close to /peɲ/).

Penh is Khmer in Origin.

Penh is a Khmer given name deriving from the word ពេញ (pronounced roughly pɨɲ), meaning full, complete, or abundant. The final -nh reflects French-influenced transcription of the palatal nasal /ɲ/. The name is internationally familiar through the toponym Phnom Penh, literally Penh’s Hill, a reference to the legendary matriarch associated with the city’s founding.

Tradition credits Lady Penh (Daun Penh) in the late 14th–early 15th century with discovering sacred statues and establishing Wat Phnom, after which the capital was named. As a personal name, Penh has seen modest, culturally resonant use in Cambodia and the Khmer diaspora, more often feminine by association with Daun Penh but essentially unisex. Spelling varies between Penh and Pénh in scholarly works; Pen appears as an informal short form. Related forms occur in compounds with honorifics (Neang/Daun Penh).

⚙ Penh is extremely rare. Our whole dataset turns up only 4 recorded uses, across 4 countries.