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Boy · Ancient Greek, from Aramaic
Peter
Say it: PEE-ter
Meaning
Greek petros 'stone, rock', translating the Aramaic nickname Kepha given by Jesus to Simon.
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
Used across Christian Europe from the early Middle Ages and still widespread.
Its wave through time
Timeless: in steady use for over a century
In the United States
- 582,329 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 1957, about 1 in 186 boys
- 1,747 babies in 2020
Through the ages
- The Biblical WorldAbout 1200 BC to AD 100
- The Early Middle Ages400 to 800
- The High and Late Middle Ages1100 to 1450
- The Renaissance1400 to 1600
- The Colonial Americas1500 to 1800
- Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
- The Modern Age1880 to today
Used by
Early ChristianAramaicEnglishAmericanFrenchSpanishItalianPortugueseGermanPolishRussianIrishDutchDanishGreek
The family of the name
| French | Pierre |
|---|---|
| Spanish | Pedro |
| Italian | Pietro |
| Portuguese | Pedro |
| German | Peter |
| Polish | Piotr |
| Russian | Pyotr |
| Irish | Peadar |
Famous bearers
- Peter the Apostle
- Peter the Great, tsar of Russia
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- The Hebrew Bible and the New Testament
- Calendars of saints and name days
- English poll taxes and lay subsidy rolls (13th and 14th centuries)
- Royal and noble genealogies
- 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.