Gender Masculine
Pronounced Pron. /ˈpit.əɹ/ (American English) /ˈpiː.tə/ (British English) /ˈpeː.tɐ/ (German) /ˈpeː.tər/ (Dutch) /ˈpeːˀ.tər/ (Danish) /ˈpèː.tər/ (Slovene) /ˈpɛ.tɛr/ (Slovak) [key ·simplify]
Meaning & History
Derived from Greek [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] . This is a translation used in most versions of the New Testament of the name Cephas , meaning "stone" in Aramaic, which was given to the apostle Simon by Jesus (compare Matthew 16:18 and John 1:42). Simon Peter was the most prominent of the apostles during Jesus' ministry and is often considered the first pope.Due to the renown of the apostle, this name became common throughout the Christian world (in various spellings). In England the Normans introduced it in the Old French form Piers, which was gradually replaced by the spelling Peter starting in the 15th century [4] .Besides the apostle, other saints by this name include the 11th-century reformer Saint Peter Damian and the 13th-century preacher Saint Peter Martyr. It was also borne by rulers of Aragon, Portugal, and Russia, including the Russian tsar Peter the Great (1672-1725), who defeated Sweden in the Great Northern War. Famous fictional bearers include Peter Rabbit from Beatrix Potter's children's books, Peter Pan, the boy who refused to grow up in J. M. Barrie's 1904 play, and Peter Parker, the real name of the comic book superhero Spider-Man.
Related Names
Rootpetra
VariantsPiers (English (British)) Pieter, Petrus, Pier (Dutch) Peder (Danish) Peder, Petter (Swedish) Peder, Petter (Norwegian)
DiminutivesPete (English) Piet (Dutch) Peer, Per (Danish) Pär, Pehr, Pelle, Per (Swedish) Peer, Per (Norwegian)
Feminine FormsPetra, Petrina (English) Peta (English (Australian)) Petra (German) Petra (Swedish) Petra (Slovene) Petra (Slovak)
Other Languages & CulturesPjetër (Albanian) Botros, Boutros, Butrus (Arabic) Bedros, Petros (Armenian) Peru, Petri, Peio (Basque) Piatro, Piotr (Belarusian) Petros (Biblical Greek) Petrus (Biblical Latin) Per, Perig, Pierrick (Breton) Petar, Pencho, Penko, Petko (Bulgarian) Pere (Catalan) Botros, Boutros, Butrus (Coptic) Petru (Corsican) Petar, Pejo, Perica, Pero (Croatian) Petr, Péťa, Peťa, Petřík (Czech) Petro (Esperanto) Peeter (Estonian) Petur (Faroese) Petri, Petteri, Pietari, Peetu, Pekka (Finnish) Pierre, Pierrick, Pierrot (French) Pitter (Frisian) Petre (Georgian) Petros (Greek) Bitrus (Hausa) Pika (Hawaiian) Péter, Peti (Hungarian) Pétur (Icelandic) Peadar, Piaras (Irish) Pietro, Pier, Pierino, Piero (Italian) Pēteris, Pjotrs (Latvian) Pitter, Pit (Limburgish) Petruchio (Literature) Petras (Lithuanian) Petar, Petre, Pece, Pero, Petko (Macedonian) Piers (Medieval French) Petruccio (Medieval Italian) Petera (Māori) Pièrre (Norman) Pèire (Occitan) Piotr, Piotrek (Polish) Pedro, Pedrinho (Portuguese) Petre, Petru, Petrică, Petruț (Romanian) Pyotr, Petia, Petya (Russian) Pedru (Sardinian) Peadar (Scottish Gaelic) Petar, Pejo, Perica, Pero, Petko (Serbian) Pedro (Spanish) Petro (Ukrainian) Pedr (Welsh)
Surname DescendantsPetersen (Danish) Peeters, Peter, Peters (Dutch) Peter, Peters, Peterson (English) Peter, Peters (German) Petersen (Norwegian) Petersson (Swedish)
Same SpellingPéter
Popularity
People think this name is
classic mature formal natural wholesome strong refined simple serious
Name Days
Images
Icon depicting Saint PeterIcon depicting Saint Peter
Sources & References
- Strong, James. The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, entry g4074, available from https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?strongs=g4074.
- Liddell, Scott and Jones. An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, entry pe/tra, available from https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0058%3Aentry%3Dpe%2Ftra.
- Lewis, Charlton T. and Charles Short. A Latin Dictionary, entry petra1, available from https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Dpetra1.
- Withycombe, Elizabeth Gidley. The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names. Oxford, 1945, page 108.
- Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of First Names. Oxford, 1990, page 265.
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Entry updated May 26, 2026