# Peter (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/peter/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | Greek |
| Meaning | “stone”, “rock” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈpitɚ/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | Pete, Petey |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 591,531 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 589,588 / 1,943 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 13,308, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Middle English Peter, from Old English Petrus, from Latin Petrus, from Ancient Greek Πέτρος (Pétros), from πέτρος (pétros, “stone, rock”). Doublet of Pedro, Piers, and Boutros.

## What it means

Peter is grouped under mountain.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 29 | 3,371 |
| 1989 | 21 | 4,470 |
| 1990 | 21 | 4,645 |
| 1991 | 11 | 7,817 |
| 1992 | 18 | 5,419 |
| 1993 | 9 | 9,317 |
| 1994 | 16 | 5,914 |
| 1995 | 15 | 6,177 |
| 1996 | 7 | 11,472 |
| 1997 | 10 | 8,849 |
| 2000 | 6 | 14,550 |
| 2004 | 7 | 13,835 |
| 2005 | 6 | 15,957 |
| 2006 | 5 | 19,333 |
| 2022 | 6 | 14,891 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 1,838 | 197 |
| 2012 | 1,869 | 204 |
| 2013 | 1,854 | 206 |
| 2014 | 1,923 | 204 |
| 2015 | 1,939 | 205 |
| 2016 | 1,927 | 207 |
| 2017 | 1,793 | 214 |
| 2018 | 1,826 | 211 |
| 2019 | 1,821 | 212 |
| 2020 | 1,762 | 215 |
| 2021 | 1,785 | 215 |
| 2022 | 1,773 | 213 |
| 2023 | 1,750 | 210 |
| 2024 | 1,899 | 192 |
| 2025 | 1,954 | 187 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 381 | 155 |
| 2012 | 311 | 184 |
| 2013 | 312 | 182 |
| 2014 | 369 | 152 |
| 2015 | 330 | 177 |
| 2016 | 297 | 188 |
| 2017 | 304 | 183 |
| 2018 | 269 | 196 |
| 2019 | 245 | 210 |
| 2020 | 214 | 226 |
| 2021 | 215 | 233 |
| 2022 | 184 | 253 |
| 2023 | 188 | 250 |
| 2024 | 157 | 286 |
| 2025 | 158 | 287 |

## In other languages

- Arabic: بُطْرُس, بِيتَر
- Armenian: Պետրոս
- Bulgarian: Пѐтър, Питър
- Catalan: Pere
- Chinese: 彼得
- Czech: Petr
- Danish: Peter, Peder, Per
- Dutch: Pieter
- Esperanto: Petro
- Estonian: Peeter
- Finnish: Pietari, Petteri, Petri, Pietarinen
- French: Pierre
- Georgian: პეტრე
- German: Peter, Per
- Greek: Πέτρος, Παναγιώτης, Πήτερ, Πίτερ
- Hebrew: פֶּטֶר
- Hindi: पीटर
- Hungarian: Péter
- Icelandic: Pétur
- Indonesian: Petrus

## People named Peter

- Peter Paul Rubens, Flemish painter (1577–1640)
- Peter O'Toole, British-Irish actor (1932–2013)
- Peter Higgs, British physicist and Nobel Prize winner (1929–2024)
- Peter Sellers, British actor and comedian (1925–1980)
- Peter Handke, Austrian writer, playwright and film director (born 1942)
- Peter Dinklage, American actor (born 1969)
- Peter Ustinov, British actor, writer and director (1921–2004)
- Peter Debye, Dutch-American physicist and physical chemist (1884–1966)
- Peter Drucker, American business consultant (1909–2005)
- Peter Gabriel, British singer and musician (born 1950)
- Peter Fonda, American actor and filmmaker (1940–2019)
- Peter Singer, Australian moral philosopher (born 1946)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.