Peter
Meaning
rock
Goes by Pete, Petey
Famously borne by Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal and Palantir. Immortalized by Peter Parker (Spider-Man) in Spider-Man (2002).
Name day: June 29 in the Roman calendar of saints (Saint Peter the Apostle).
The story
Peter is the Greek petros, rock, and it is one of the few names whose meaning was assigned in front of witnesses: the Gospels record Jesus renaming the fisherman Simon as Peter, the rock on which the church would be built. Nearly every European language took a version, from Pierre and Pedro to Pyotr and Per, and English has used it steadily since the Middle Ages, with Peter Pan and Peter Rabbit adding a nursery warmth early in the twentieth century. The American chart is a study in evenness: solidly present from the 1890s onward, strongest through the midcentury decades, never subject to a boom or a bust. It has grown somewhat quieter with recent generations, yet it remains instantly familiar, still the name a story reaches for when it needs someone dependable. Rock, after all, was the point from the beginning.
Peter around the world
One shared root links 6 names across 4 languages.
Shared root: from Greek petros "rock", translating the Aramaic byname Kepha; the European forms descend from Latin Petrus
The constellation
More branches
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Peter peaked in the 1890s and the 1950s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
5,225 people · the #2,658 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 38,462 · median age 35
Among people named Peter living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1980s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 317 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Peter
People given the name Peter in the United States span the generations: the middle half were born anywhere from 1950 to 1999. Age is the one thing the name won't tell you.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Peter deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Peter truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Peter fits with your family’s names and surname.
Where Peter travels
Korean American · rock (the apostle; a steady church pick in Korean American families)
Chinese American · a dignified biblical classic across generations
Greek · rock, stone
Keep exploring
Nicknames for Peter · Greek baby names · Korean American baby names · Filipino American baby names · Chinese American baby names
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