How to Write Penelope in Cursive

Your name in school cursive with the capital, the joins and the tricky spots explained, plus a printable practice sheet.

By Maya Chen, lettering designer and type educator · Checked by Jordan Hale · October 2026 · How we review content

"Penelope" in Playwrite US Trad, a typeface modelled on traditional school cursive.

Penelope is eight letters with a lot of repetition: two e's near the start, an e at the end, and two p's with descenders. The cursive p is fiddly, and the name needs three clean e loops and a tall l in the middle. The pattern is regular, so once you've found the rhythm it becomes a steady flow.

Copy and paste "Penelope" in cursive

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Letter by letter

Each distinct letter in "Penelope" has its own stroke-by-stroke page.

The joins in Penelope

Pe: After lifting from the P, start the e close to the bowl's end. Make a clear small loop so the first lowercase letter is open, and keep the e the same height as the other lowercase letters.
en: The e exits at the baseline into the n's overcurve, so the exit must roll over the top. Keep the e's loop open, and the n's two humps even.
ne: The n exits with an undercurve into the e's loop. Keep the e small and open, and don't let the connecting stroke run too far right, which stretches the pair.
el: The e exits straight up into the l's tall loop. Make the climb steady and the loop narrow so it stands out against the small letters before it.
lo: The l exits at the baseline into the o's oval. Close the o and finish it with a bridge at the midline, since the p that follows begins high.
op: The o's bridge leads into the p's stem. Dip slightly, drop straight below the baseline, then close the bowl and exit to the right.
pe: After the p's bowl exits at the baseline, rise into the final e's loop. Keep the e as small as the others, with a short exit to end the name.

Tricky spots

Three e loops: The e appears three times. Give each the same size and openness, so they look like a deliberate pattern and not accidents.
Two p's: The capital P and the lowercase p are very different. The capital lifts and has a bowl at the top, while the lowercase p drops below the baseline with a small bowl, so don't use one shape for both.
Length: Eight letters take space. Plan the width from the capital, and keep the slant consistent across the name, since repeated shapes make drift easy to see.

The capital P

Capital P in cursive is a tall stem with a rounded bowl on the right at the top, usually started with a small curl, and in traditional cursive it does not connect, so lift after the bowl and start the e beside it. Keep the bowl rounded and about half the letter's height.

Penelope as a signature

The P gives a good place for a flourish: a wide curl at the top or a long extension of the bowl. The l is the only tall loop, so it will stand out on its own. Simplified signatures often keep P, e and the final pe, with a shortened wave between. Keep the p's descender clear to avoid hitting the line below.

Short forms of Penelope

Common short forms are Penny and Pen. Pen is a capital P, e and n, and Penny doubles the n and adds a y with a descending tail, so it ends differently from Penelope.

As a tattoo

Penelope is long and suits a forearm or ribs. The repeated e loops can fill in together, so use at least 8 mm x-height and check the stencil for the P's bowl and the p's descender. A short form such as Penny may be easier at small sizes.

Printable practice sheet

Trace the grey letters, then write your own on the empty lines. Prints on one page (Letter or A4).

Cursive practice: Penelope

Name: ____________________ coolletteringgenerator.com

Copy-paste versions of Penelope

Copy-paste Penelope in script is 𝒫ℯ𝓃ℯ𝓁ℴ𝓅ℯ and in bold script is 𝓟𝓮𝓷𝓮𝓵𝓸𝓹𝓮. Penelope has four borrowed glyphs in plain script: the three e's, each ℯ (U+212F), and the single o, ℴ (U+2134). Only P, n, l and p come from the main block. With half the letters substituted, mismatched fonts are quite likely on some devices. Bold script avoids that, which is worth considering for an eight-letter name.

Penelope in cursive: questions

How do you write Penelope in cursive?

Draw a capital P, lift, then write e, n, e, l, o, p, e in one run. The l has a tall loop, and the lowercase p drops below the line with a small bowl. Keep all three e loops open.

Does the P connect to the e in Penelope?

In traditional cursive, no. Capital P is finished and the pen lifts before the e, so a small gap is normal. Start the e just beside the end of the bowl, close enough that the name still reads as one word. Some modern styles link them with a short stroke, which is a variation rather than the school standard.

How do you write the p in Penelope in cursive?

Drop a straight stem below the baseline from the midline, retrace up, then draw a small bowl that closes on the right and exit to the right. The lowercase p has no loop at the bottom. In Penelope it comes right after the o, whose bridge leads into the stem, so keep that connection level and short.

How is Penelope different from Penny in cursive?

They start the same way with P, e and n. Penny doubles the n and adds a y with a descending tail, while Penelope continues with e, l, o, p, e. So Penny is much shorter, ends in a descender loop, and has no tall l, whereas Penelope has the l in the middle and a p descender near the end.