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Petra

girl name
Origin
German
Syllables
2
Peak era
1890s/2020s
Today
▬ Steady

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Meaning

rock (feminine of Peter)

How popular is Petra around the world?

In the United States, 923 babies were named Petra between 2020 and 2025. In Norway, 47 girls were given the name Petra in 2025.

Petra is on the official records of the United States, Norway, Spain, Austria, Canada, Chile, England and Wales, Argentina, Poland and Brazil.

United States

1 in 24,000

In the United States, 923 babies were named Petra between 2020 and 2025.

peak 1890s2020s

Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Petra peaked in the 1890s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure. In US birth records Petra has stayed between 828 and 1,433 births in every decade since the 1950s: a name everyone knows and few children get.

Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration

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Norway

1 in 560 · register 2026

In Norway, 47 girls were given the name Petra in 2025.

1945peak 2025

share of the girls on the register for that year, SSB’s own figure

People who have or have had a Norwegian ID number, emigrants left out, from Statistics Norway’s name statistics (release of January 2026): by year of birth for 1945–2020 (everyone born that year who was ever registered in Norway, including people who registered later and people who have since died) and by year of naming from 2021; only first names carried by 200 or more living people are listed, counts under 4 are withheld, and SSB merges spellings that differ only by letters outside the Norwegian alphabet. The shares are SSB’s own, of the people of that sex and year in that count; the 2025 figure counts the children named that year, and no year is a count of births. Source: Statistics Norway (SSB), table 10467 (updated 2026-01-28)

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Spain

1 in 2,900

In Spain, 15,421 residents are named Petra, the 229th most common name among women, with a mean age of 72.6 years.

Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025

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Austria

1 in 4,200

In Austria, 18 girls named Petra were born in 2025, the 301st most common name among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.

peak 19842025

share of that year’s births on record

Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)

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Canada

1 in 11,000

In Canada, 32 girls named Petra were born in 2024, the 870th most common name among girls that year.

1991peak 20152024

share of that year’s name registrations

First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)

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Chile

1 in 36,000

In Chile, 5 girls were registered as Petra in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.
The count never rose above 6 in a year, too few to chart.

First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021

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England and Wales

1 in 45,000

In England and Wales, 13 girls named Petra were born in 2025, ranked 2,138th among girls that year.

1996peak 2019

share of that year’s name registrations

Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales

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Argentina

1 in 83,000

In Argentina, 8 newborns were given the name Petra in 2024.

2012peak 20202024

share of that year’s name registrations

Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024

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Poland

1 in 120,000

In Poland, 2 girls named Petra were born in 2025, the 706th most common name among girls that year.
The count never rose above 7 in a year, too few to chart.

First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)

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Brazil

1 in 200,000

At the 2022 census, 1,074 people in Brazil were named Petra, ranked 7,873rd, with a median age of 23.
Among people named Petra living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1990s than in any other decade.

1940speak 1990s2010s

people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth

The census also counted 137 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022

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Ireland

last on record 2023

Petra is not on the 2025 record for Ireland, where names under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 8 in a year, too few to chart.

Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names

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Mexico City City

last on record 2021

Petra is not on the 2022 record for Mexico City, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.

Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023

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Montevideo City

last on record 2010

Petra is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.

Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial

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New Zealand

last on record 2016

Petra is not on the 2025 record for New Zealand, where names under 10 in a year are excluded at source.

1970peak 19972025

share of that year’s name registrations

First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time

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Scotland

last on record 2023

Petra is not on the 2024 record for Scotland, where spellings under 3 in total are suppressed at source.
The count never rose above 6 in a year, too few to chart.

Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names

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South Australia

last on record 2016

Petra is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 8 in a year, too few to chart.

Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names

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Not on the record in Puerto Rico: that registry withholds small counts, so rare uses may sit below its floor.

Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown.

All records: the most popular baby names around the world →

Names that fit alongside Petra

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Keep exploring

German baby names · Familiar but never popular

The Petra deep dive

Written for you · $1.99 →

Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Petra 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 Petra fits with your family’s names and surname.

Both reports, explained →

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