Boy · Greek, through Scandinavian
Per
Say it: PEHR
Meaning
A Scandinavian form of Peter, from Greek petros 'stone'.
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
A common Scandinavian form of Peter since the Middle Ages.
Its wave through time
Rare in the records
In the United States
- 366 babies given this name since 1923
- At its height in 1968, about 1 in 124,200 boys
- 5 babies in 2020
Through the ages
- The High and Late Middle Ages1100 to 1450
- The Renaissance1400 to 1600
- Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
- The Modern Age1880 to today
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Peer, Pehr
| Finnish | Pekka |
|---|---|
| Icelandic | Pétur |
| English | Peter |
Famous bearers
- Peer Gynt, title hero of Ibsen's play
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Calendars of saints and name days
- Parish baptism registers
- National birth statistics of European countries source
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.