# Peterson (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/peterson/  
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 | not recorded |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /ˈpitɚsən/, 3 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 819 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 819 / 0 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | not in the ONS data |

## Etymology

English, Scottish, and German surname, from Peter + -son. Found parallel in many other languages, such as Norwegian and Danish Pedersen, Pettersen, Polish Piotrowicz, Slovene Petrič, Petrovčič, Petrovič, Petric, Petrovic, etc. Also Americanized from Swedish Petersson, Pettersson.

## 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, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 14 | 6,168 |
| 2012 | 14 | 6,224 |
| 2013 | 11 | 7,419 |
| 2014 | 10 | 7,978 |
| 2015 | 10 | 7,898 |
| 2016 | 12 | 7,034 |
| 2017 | 14 | 6,258 |
| 2018 | 7 | 10,464 |
| 2019 | 10 | 8,059 |
| 2020 | 9 | 8,560 |
| 2021 | 9 | 8,662 |
| 2022 | 11 | 7,619 |
| 2023 | 6 | 11,903 |
| 2024 | 9 | 8,812 |
| 2025 | 9 | 8,745 |

## In other languages

- Armenian: Պետրոսյան
- Bulgarian: Петров
- Danish: Pedersen, Petersen
- Dutch: Pieters, Pieterszoon
- Georgian: პეტრიაშვილი
- Greek: Πετρίδης, Πέτρου, Πετρόπουλος
- Hungarian: Petőfi
- Italian: Di Pietro, Pietri
- Lithuanian: Petravičius, Petraitis
- Norwegian: Pedersen, Petersen
- Polish: Pietrowicz
- Portuguese: Peres
- Romanian: Petrescu
- Russian: Петро́в, Петро́ва
- Spanish: Pérez
- Swedish: Persson, Pettersson, Petersson
- Ukrainian: Петре́нко

## People named Peterson

- Peterson Toscano, American comedian
- Peterson dos Santos, Brazilian athletics competitor

## 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.