44 replies to this topic

[bryonalston]

Has her first name ever been revealed, or is Moneypenny her first name? If so, what is her last?

[Bondian]

I've always thought of 'Moneypenny' as more of a code name.

If it is her 'real' name, then I would image it would be her surname.

I know there's an answer to this, but I'm far too old and tired to be able to find it.

Cheers,

Ian

[Righty007]

She is called Miss Moneypenny so her last name is Moneypenny. Her first name has never been revealed.

[Athena007]

Her first name is "Miss"

[Bondian]

Maybe her first names 'Miss'.

"named after her father perhaps!".

[Athena007]

I beat you to the "Miss" joke, Bondian. It doesn't work twice

[Bondian]

He-he. Great minds think alike.

I beat you to the "Miss" joke, Bondian. It doesn't work twice

[Qwerty]

No first name I think.

[Wade]

I've always been of the opinion that, if she ever was given a first name, it should be "Constance," in deference to her devotion to 007. Nice allegorical punch to it.

[Skudor]

Good point - I don't remember seeing a first name for her. Perhaps Penelope (Penny)...

[spynovelfan]

Endeavour.

[Dunph]

Her first name is Pound.

Works with the surname and sounds like a sexual command.

[hrabb04]

It's Shirley, but never call her that

[Stephenson]

Her first name is Pound.

Works with the surname and sounds like a sexual command.

Ahhhh ....

Now your avatar makes sense.

[Dunph]

How that so, Daddy-O?

[Blofeld's Cat]

The closest to a first name she ever got was being called "Penny" a couple of times by Bond - in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and by Connery's Bond, but I can't remember which movie.

But of course, it's not "Penny" but rather "'Penny" which is short for Moneypenny.

[Tanger]

The closest to a first name she ever got was being called "Penny" a couple of times by Bond - in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and by Connery's Bond, but I can't remember which movie.

But of course, it's not "Penny" but rather "'Penny" which is short for Moneypenny.

It's in a few of the novels a too. Can't remember which ones though.

[YOLT]

Pound Money-penny

[Skudor]

I guess she is one of those strange people without a first name (e.g. Madonna) ... Afterall, thos trying to be familiar with her resort to calling her Penny - simply a short form of her surname.

[Stephenson]

How that so, Daddy-O?

amusing sexual innuendo about Bond character=Playboy bunny in bond pose

The Daddy-O seals it!

[Kara Milovy]

Her first name is "Miss"

Reminds me of the time I saw Peter Falk on Johnny Carson (yes, yes, I'm very old). Carson asked Falk what Columbo's first name was, and Falk said "Lieutenant."

[Jaws0178]

My sister used to ask my mom (who's first name is Sarah) what her first name was, to she would reply "Mom". She'd call my stepdad "Daddy James" His first name is Brian.

Todd

[bryonalston]

This is so odd. I can't believe that she doesn't have a first name! The revealed the name of the head of M:I6, but they can't reveal the name of his secretary? For some reason, I think that her first name is Penny because of a few reasons:
1. Bond has called her 'Penny' on many occasions. She never calls him by his last name and always refers to him as 'James,' so I think that in return, Bond calls her by her first name as well, which is 'Penny.'
2. ***Spoiler Ahead***This is kind of like the movie 'Closer,' when Alice reveals to Larry (Clive Owen) that her real name is Jane, but he didn't believe her, and got mad at her when she told him. It turns out that this was her real name after all, and small hints had been dropped throughout the movie. This is kind of what's happening with the whole Moneypenny situation. She's been called Penny many times, but we as the audience don't believe that this is her real name, because her last name in MoneyPENNY. I think that her name is intended to be Penny, but it's never officially revealed just to toy with the audience.
3. In OP, Moneypenny got an assisstant named PENELOPE Smallbone. I don't think that it was just a coincidence that Penelope Smallbone was a younger version of Miss Moneypenny in every way. The name Penelope Smallbone could have easily been changed to something else. Also, her character could have served as another character in a movie filled with women. I don't think that they chose the character to be Moneypenny's secretary for no reason at all.

Based on all of this evidence, my educated guess is that Moneypenny's name is indeed Penny/Penelope, but it's just a wink at the audience whenever Bond calls her 'Penny,' hinting at the fact that that's her actual name.

[Dunph]

How that so, Daddy-O?

amusing sexual innuendo about Bond character=Playboy bunny in bond pose

The Daddy-O seals it!

Heheh.

I reckon Moneypenny and Miss Moneypenny are just nicknames, and her name is actually Penelope. I don't believe we'll ever know her surname.

[bryonalston]

What kind of a nickname is Moneypenny? Who would make something like that up? Do they even have penny's in the UK? And if so, did they have them 50 years ago when Fleming made up the name?

Supposedly, the character of Moneypenny was based on an actual secretary named Vera Atkins. Maybe Moneypenny's first name is Vera...

Does anyone know if Ian Fleming got the names of his characters from actual people? (I know the whole story with Goldfinger.) If the names were inspired by actual people, then Moneypenny's first name may lie with someone who was close to him or who he associated with.

[TortillaFactory]

I've always been of the opinion that, if she ever was given a first name, it should be "Constance," in deference to her devotion to 007. Nice allegorical punch to it.

And it leaves us with Connie, which reminds me of the far less attractive but perhaps ultimately more intelligent MI5 secretary Miss Connie Sachs (thank you, John le Carre).

What kind of a nickname is Moneypenny? Who would make something like that up? Do they even have penny's in the UK? And if so, did they have them 50 years ago when Fleming made up the name?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that at one point in England's history, there was a coin that was referred to as a "penny", if only in the vernacular.

I imagine that Moneypenny, like Q and M, is some kind of code name. It all depends on what category you put Penny in: is she the immortal unchangeable like Bond and Felix, meant to be, nudge nudge wink wink, really the same person? Or is she variable like Q and M? We may never know. I guess it's a matter of personal taste, really.

[spynovelfan]

Supposedly, the character of Moneypenny was based on an actual secretary named Vera Atkins.

I've heard that so many times, but the way you put it just made me stop to think. Vera Atkins was far from being a secretary, and her character was a world away from Moneypenny's. I wonder if there's any evidence at all that Fleming based Moneypenny on her. I can see a slight physical resemblance to Vera Atkins, and I suppose they were both efficient. But Moneypenny does precious little, really - Atkins recruited and trained agents, and made sure that justice was done to those who killed them in contrvaention of the Geneva Convention.

An obituary of Vera Atkins

[TortillaFactory]

Hmm...perhaps Moneypenny does a lot more that Bond (not to mention the audience) doesn't know about. It seems odd to think that the secret service would just hire a plain ol' run of the mill secretary, with no special skills or qualifications.

[bryonalston]

I think that's true. Moneypenny seems to be a center figure in MI6, since almost everything is passed through her at some point, she definitely needs to have certain qualifications to get a job as important as M's assistant. It is highly unlikely that she has no official training (it seems that anyone working in an intelligence organization would need to possess certain skills. For example, on '24,' Chloe, who is a computer programmer, knew how to operate a large machine gun almost perfectly out in the field.) I think that everyone who works for MI6 receives training as soon as they are hired. (Also, Moneypenny was sent out into the field in DAF to equip rendezvous with Bond. Why would a run-of-the-mill secretary get a field operation? it's pretty obvious she has a bigger role than just M's secretary. Maybe not to the point of Vera Atkins, but it's not impossible for Atkins to be the inspiration for Moneypenny.)

[TortillaFactory]

I think that everyone who works for intelligence goes through some kind of basic training. I imagine it's similar to the regular military, where everyone has combat skills even if they only sit behind a typewriter for the duration of the war.

Moneypenny definitely has an important role in Intelligence - we've seen her as a field agent (DAF), a propoganda generator (in one of the Bros films, can't recall now, but she often seems to be putting spins on things for the news), and all-around factotum for the office. Somebody really should write about her adventures.